Blue Zone Living: Family, Gourds, and Green Development in Nicoya
By Peter LoPresti, Co-Founder
Earlier this month, I found myself in one of the most extraordinary places on Earth — the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. As one of only five global Blue Zones, Nicoya holds secrets to health, longevity, and a life well-lived. But this trip wasn’t just about learning from the locals; it was about building something lasting — for my family, our team, and the future of sustainable development.
Watching my 9-month-old daughter meet extended family for the first time was one of the most meaningful moments of my life. There’s something deeply grounding about returning to a place so rich in natural beauty, culture, and tradition — and watching your child taste its essence, quite literally, through the home-cooked meals of her ancestors.
The Blue Zone Diet: Nourishing Longevity
The Nicoyan diet is deceptively simple but powerfully effective. Beans, squash, corn, and tropical fruits form its foundation, but it’s the diversity of endemic gourds that continues to fascinate me.
In Nicoya, gourds aren’t just food — they’re medicine. Varieties like jícaro, ayote, and chilacayote are used in everything from soups to medicinal teas. These gourds are nutrient-dense, high in antioxidants, fiber, and essential minerals that support heart health and digestive function. They’re also deeply integrated into the local culture — often grown right at home, shared within families, and passed down as culinary heritage.
Unlike modern “superfoods” that get flown across continents, these gourds are local, seasonal, and rooted in community. That kind of relationship with your food — and the land that grows it — is one of the most overlooked components of longevity.
Adventure Meets Impact
In between meals and memories, we made time for some adventure: scuba diving off the coast, off-road driving through rivers and mountains, swimming in hidden coves, and hiking with monkeys and macaws as our guides. These experiences remind me why people live so long here — it’s not just about what they eat, but how they live: active, outdoors, connected.
But what I’m most proud of is what we’re building here.
After nearly two years of engineering and effort, our team has completed the first and only permanent rock crusher on the Nicoya Peninsula. And unlike any other operation here, ours will be powered by 99% renewable energy, using electric motors instead of diesel to run our conveyor systems.
It may seem like a small detail, but this is a major shift. Traditional mobile crushers are noisy, polluting, and inefficient. Ours is stationary, clean, and future-forward. It's the first electric dredging operation of its kind in the region, and it's proof that green development is not only possible — it's already happening.
The Stoic Path Forward
At The Stoic Team, we believe in action over opinion. We believe in responsibility over convenience. And we believe that real change starts when we align our values with the way we build — whether it's a home, a company, or a future for the next generation.
My daughter may not remember this trip, but I will never forget the look on her face as she tasted her first spoonful of sopa de ayote — or the sound of our electric motors humming against the quiet background of howler monkeys and ocean breeze.
This is what sustainable legacy looks like. And we’re just getting started.
