BLUE ZONES & BUSH'S BEANS (Mark)

Once again, we were traveling in our favorite mode . . .

No, not in this, but we wished!

Cheri had the atlas on her lap, and we were wandering along the back roads to avoid the main freeways.  When we came to an intersection in rural Chestnut Hill, Tennessee, we found the Bush’s Beans plant, visitor center and café.

The plant is huge, and we were surprised!  It turns out we were only about two miles from Interstate 40, but we had come the back way - passing both Will Thornton Road and Joe Thornton Road - and had no idea.

Out front is the absolutely beautiful 1940 Ford pickup that is featured in the company's television advertisements:

When you enter you are greeted by very friendly crew members and given an overview of the Museum.  One of the first things we did was watch a very interesting ten-minute video of the history of the plant.

I really like how much natural light was designed into the plant. Huge windows everywhere; every worker in the plant has a view!

After we finished watching the film we started through the exhibits.

These are some of the early tools and books actually which were used early on in the plant.  Bush’s is a family-owned corporation, and they started out with tomato canning and processing.  In 1904, A.J. Bush and the Stokely family entered into an agreement to open a tomato cannery.  Did you know canning and cans were invented before can openers?  To get into a can you used a chisel and hammer!

Bush’s Best Beans now produces 80% of the canned baked beans consumed in the United States.  This is about 55,000,000 pounds of beans.

Bush’s does can more than just beans:

This map shows in which states the beans used in the canning process are grown:

Since 1952, Bush’s has had the beans dried where they are grown, then shipped to Tennessee.  This makes both shipping and processing easier.

A scale is available to measure how much something weighs in dried beans.  When I got on the scale I found I am equivalent to 182,800 beans!  Quite a few more beans than the bicycle.

I love the styling of the old refrigerator freezer:

and Cheri loved the massive mural of historic Chestnut Hill:

(Just a little detail here.)

After seeing the exhibits we went to the café and had a late lunch.  As you might expect the café serves a number of bean-centric recipes.  The three-bean salad was exceptional.  And for desert I did try the Pecan Pinto Bean Pie! 

And now for how the "Blue Zones" factors into Bush’s Best Beans.  Beans are one of the foods common in the Blue Zones, a term developed by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Explorer and Fellow.  One of these zones is Loma Linda California.

I am an alumnus of Loma Linda University, which is where I first became aware of the increased longevity associated with the largely vegetarian diet that Seventh-Day Adventists eat. 

Bush’s Best Beans does present just how important beans are and the nutritional value they can provide.  In fact, you can even purchase a "Bush's Beans and Blue Zones Sampler Pack":

Cheri was definitely impressed with the company's marketing department.

And just in case you were wondering . . . can pigs really fly?