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Green Bronx Machine and Quest Diagnostics Foundation Team Up to Expand Acclaimed Indoor Gardening Curriculum to Inspire Healthier Students

Newswise — Bronx, N.Y./Secaucus, N.J, Feb. 15, 2022: Green Bronx Machine, a transformational educational nonprofit helping students and teachers turn classrooms into agricultural learning experiences, today announced a collaboration with the Quest Diagnostics Foundation, that will enable Green Bronx Machine to reach students in 30 underserved schools in Colorado, Ohio, and New York.

In these classrooms, students and teachers will grow vegetables using the Tower Gardens® aeroponic growing system and use plant life to teach multiple subjects including science, math, and language arts. Beyond academics, the food grown is used to enhance the health of the students and their communities through improved nutrition.  

“The best investment we can make is in our youth,” said Stephen Ritz, CEO and founder of Green Bronx Machine. “I want to help grow the next generation of high performing schools, highly successful students, and happy, healthy and high-performing teachers. With the support of the Quest Diagnostics Foundation, we’ll be able to significantly expand our reach, increase health equity, create more opportunities for historically underserved communities and, through all of this, make a better world.”  

Ritz, an internationally acclaimed award-winning educator, founded Green Bronx Machine as an after-school program to engage failing students. The program utilizes urban agriculture and education to help support the needs of food insecure individuals, educate minds, and feed students and their communities. To date, Green Bronx Machine’s project-based learning program has engaged over 100,000 students in 20 states and six nations, generating significant academic student achievement and increased graduation rates, improved health outcomes, and key insights into how food justice, food access, and overall well-being are interconnected. 

One major supporter of Green Bronx Machine is Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City. According to Adams, “Improved nutrition education in our schools will be critical to combat the chronic health conditions found in our communities, which are due in large part to limited knowledge of, and exposure to, healthy foods among our youth. Green Bronx Machine has found an innovative way to tackle this and will continue to play a crucial role in supporting the healthy development of our communities—one student at a time, one community at a time.” 

The Quest Diagnostics Foundation, as part of the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative, is providing a grant to Green Bronx Machine to support expanding its programming to 30 schools. Q4HE is a multi-year initiative of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) and the Quest Diagnostics Foundation focused on providing a combination of donated testing services, education programs, partnerships, and funding to support initiatives to close the gap in healthcare disparities in underserved communities. 

“We are proud to team up with Green Bronx Machine in supporting its mission to educate and inspire young people while creating better health outcomes for their communities,” said Ruth Clements, President of the Quest Diagnostics Foundation. “In doing so we are helping to reduce health care disparities in underserved communities.”  

The Quest Diagnostics Foundation will support Green Bronx Machine to expand its reach into lower-income communities, with a focus on strengthening access to nutritious food while inspiring students through dynamic educational experiences. These schools will receive: Green Bronx Machine’s licensed curriculum; the Tower Gardens® aeroponic growing system which students use to grow vegetables; professional development and coaching for educators, and ongoing programmatic support to ensure successful outcomes.

“With the help of the Quest Diagnostics Foundation, we will be able to increase access to nutritious food while delivering proven, data-driven, project-based, hands-on, innovative, educational opportunities,” said Ritz. 

Tower to Table to Tummy: Super Southwest Salad – Premieres Today!

Take a trip to California, Arizona, and New Mexico today for the world premiere of Episode 5 of Tower to Table to Tummy – featuring Super Southwest Salad! Beyond harvesting straight from our Tower Garden®, this recipe focusses on ten plates of ingredients: teach your little ones tenths! It’s our most complex recipe yet!

Tune in and get your fractions, aprons, cutting boards, and napkins ready! DELICIOSO!

For upcoming Full Episodes, SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel.

YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Our 2021 Impact Report

Thanks to all who have reached out recently. Each and every day our inboxes fill and snail mail continues to arrive – we thank you and we appreciate you. The outpouring of love has been amazing. While we continue to mourn and cope with the ongoing complexities of life, make no doubt about it: WE REMAIN STRONGER TOGETHER! We thank you and we appreciate you.

Speaking of stronger together, this month we are rolling out a new cohort of 30 schools across the country in partnership with Quest Diagnostics® dedicated to Cultivating Health Equity. Imagine: 30 new classrooms complete with Green Bronx Machine Curriculum, a Tower Garden®, classroom supplies, fully trained teachers, and all connected to one another via the internet. Overseas, we will be connecting additional Bronx schools with partner schools, with the ultimate goal of connecting 1 MILLION STUDENTS globally for dual and shared learning. Talk about inspiring healthy living and learning – our children and teachers are so excited! This is the impact we dream of and the movement this moment calls for.

Speaking of impact, 2021 saw Green Bronx Machine receive numerous awards and accolades, including Classy’s 2021 Social Innovation Award, Controlled Environment Agriculture’s Disruptor Award, National Life Group Foundation’s LifeChanger of the Year Award, TMZ’s COVID Food Hero, and appearances in a BBC Film Feature, the Tamron Hall Show, El Capitan’s Interview with Mayor Eric Adams, the amazing testimony of El Capitan to US House of Representatives, and so much more. Building for the future, we even completed a five year strategic plan in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers. To that end, we are PROUD TO SHARE OUR 2021 IMPACT REPORT with you!

If not us, who? If not now, when? From the Bronx, to the world, all of this amazing impact happens because of kind donors and supporters like you. You are the lifeblood of our work and we thank you and we appreciate you. We can’t stop, we won’t stop! And it all starts with you. Please continue to support our work today!

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Tower to Table to Tummy: Caprese Insalata – Premieres Today!

We’re headed straight to Italy today for the world premiere of Episode 4 of Tower to Table to Tummy – featuring Caprese Insalata! Beyond harvesting straight from our Tower Garden®, this recipe focusses on nine plates of ingredients: ninths! Did you know that 3/9 = 1/3? Learn why and how while making a delicious meal.

Remember, El Capitan loves children who slice the cheese – not cut the cheese – in class. Tune in and get your fractions, aprons, cutting boards, and napkins ready! DELICIOSO!

For upcoming Full Episodes, SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel.

Green Bronx Machine: Year In Review

As the year comes to an end, we can’t help but reflect on our massive impact in 2021. This includes:

  • Helping to feed 10,000 people on Thanksgiving
  • Supporting 1,500 teachers online
  • Planting 100,000 seedlings
  • Launching 3 new food pantries
  • Serving more than 50,000 high-need students
  • Growing 10,000 pounds of vegetables with students
  • Rescuing 10,000 pounds of food from landfill
  • Delivering another 100,000 pounds of food to families in need
  • Cutting the ribbons on 10 tiny homes for foster care children in
  • Appalachia – their first homes EVER!
  • Reaching more than 2 million students through Let’s Learn with Mister Ritz
  • Launching a Tower to Table to Tummy Cooking Show
  • Testifying before US House of Representatives
  • Launching our Food for Good Campaign with Danone
  • Partnering with Quest Diagnostics to bring Green Bronx Machine programming and curricula to multiple cities across America
  • Welcoming new board members, including Linda Femling (Google), Ana Garcia (NY Presbyterian), Joel Makower (Green Biz), Catherine Nelson (Columbia Threadneedle Investments/Ameriprise Financial)

And the world, our peers, and media have noticed! We were proud to:

From the Bronx, to the world! In 2022, we will be embarking on Year 1 of our five-year strategic plan, developed in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will bring Green Bronx Machine to 20,000 schools throughout the country. We are poised, ready, willing, and able to do the work! Our work has always been organic and grassroots, supported by local people who love and appreciate what we do and how we do it: one child at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time, one community at a time. Today, we are asking for your support. Be it $1 or $100,000! Every drop of kindness helps fill the cup and gets us closer to making epic happen!

We thank you and we appreciate you!

DONATE NOW

Stepping Stones, Inc. And Green Bronx Machine Founder Celebrate Expansion of West Virginia Foster Youth Tiny Home Village

Green Bronx Machine Donates Newman’s Own Foundation Gift to Outfit Tiny Home Kitchens

Newswise — LAVALETTE, WV, December 16, 2021 –  Green Bronx Machine Founder Stephen Ritz joined with Stepping Stones, Inc. and its Youth Transitions Project (YTP) leaders to mark the growing tiny-home village with two soon-to-be completed additional homes and the framing out of a third.  Stepping Stones is the revolutionary foster care facility in the heart of Appalachia.

Longtime supporter and urban farmer Ritz also announced that Green Bronx Machine (GBM) will pay forward a generous $25,000 donation from its partner, Newman’s Own Foundation, to Stepping Stones to outfit all homes’ kitchens with appliances from local retailer Big Sandy Superstore.  In addition, GBM has spearheaded a “Fill Them with Love” campaign, providing each tiny home with all the household supplies needed for to start a first home. 

YTP is a public-private partnership focused on youth ages 16-21 transitioning from foster care or experiencing homelessness. The project’s centerpiece is a tiny-home village.  Its goal is to support disconnected West Virginia youth as they transition into adulthood so they may reach their full potential and become productive, contributing citizens.  When completed next summer, there will be eight tiny homes, a village school that provides high school equivalency and career and technical education classes, a building and construction certification program, a substance treatment program, and a commercial greenhouse that provides residents with healthy foods combined with employment, paid sustainable farming skills building, and employment and job coaching and placement. 

“This holiday season, GBM is delighted to provide these young people the tools they need to eat and prepare healthy food for themselves rather than depend on cheap, fast, convenient food.  Fostering good nutrition habits is key to Stepping Stones and YTP’s intentional, multi-dimensional program designed to help these youth as they successfully pave their pathway to adulthood and independent living,” said Ritz.  “In this process, all of us – Stepping Stones, Newman’s Own, GBM and Big Sandy – want them to know they are loved, supported and valued.”

Ritz and GBM have been working with Stepping Stones since 2018 on its Growing Hope initiative – a commercial greenhouse with 20 sustainable gardens using Tower Gardens® aeroponic growing systems on property.  Using GBM’s propriety curriculum, Stepping Stones youth are trained to manage the greenhouse, growing their own food and donating excess to local communities in need. 

“Green Bronx Machine has been a catalyst in helping us to follow our passion and making dreams come true by pushing us to think outside of the box and literally feed our boys with hope,” said Susan Fry, executive director, Stepping Stones.  “Stephen and Lizette Ritz are family to all of us and this amazing GBM donation, thanks to the generosity of Newman’s Own Foundation, is a blessing for our tiny home residents.  Just as importantly, it shows our young people the power of partnership and working together to make a positive impact.”    

Capping the festivities, Big Sandy Superstore’s delivery truck arrived at the tiny-home village and Fry, Ritz and others helped unload five refrigerators, five stoves, and five sets of stackable washing machines and dryers.  

“Most of us don’t crash land into Life. We benefit from the experience of life-long co-pilots, maintenance crews and navigators. Now imagine bringing your craft in successfully with neither solo flying experience or any of that support,” said Don Perdue, president of Stepping Stones, Inc.’s board of directors.  “That is what aging out of foster care is like. The crash is almost inevitable.”

 

All the tiny homes are the result of a large, caring community of supporters, funders and volunteers, including Pallottine Foundation of Huntington, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Milan Puskar Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, Green Bronx Machine, Cabell Huntington Hospital, Toyota Motor Manufacturing WV, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Sprouting Farms and Transition, West Virginia Schools of Diversion, Marshall University, Wayne High School CTE Engineering Class, Tolsia High School CTE Class, Truist Bank, Bernard McDonough Foundation, Braskem America Neal Plant and interior designers Pam and Tammy Watts, among others.

About Stepping Stones, Inc.

Established in 1975, Stepping Stones, Inc. is a fully-licensed child welfare and behavioral health provider with over 46 years’ experience working with West Virginia’s troubled and troubling youth and their families. The therapeutic milieu is family-centered and youth-focused and provides youth with an opportunity to enhance cognitive competence, internalize coping skills and develop an “I Can” attitude. Through restructuring, reeducation and reintegration, Stepping Stones seeks to strengthen the youth’s relationship with family and community. The Program firmly believes that discovering and uncovering the connectedness of the youth and his family with the community is paramount in treatment delivery.  For more information, visit https://steppingstonesinc.org.

About Newman’s Own Foundation

Newman’s Own Foundation is an independent, private foundation formed in 2005 by Paul Newman to sustain the legacy of his philanthropic work. Funded entirely through the profits and royalties of Newman’s Own products, the Foundation does not maintain an endowment, raise funds, or accept donations. The Foundation believes that each of us, through the power of philanthropy, has the potential to make a difference. Since 1982, when Paul Newman first declared, “Let’s give it all away,” more than $550 million has been donated to thousands of nonprofit organizations helping people in need around the world.

Green Bronx Machine’s Lizette Ritz Named to City & State Magazine’s 2021 Responsible 100 List

Newswise — BRONX, NY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 – Green Bronx Machine Executive Director Lizette Ritz was recognized today by City & State Magazine as one of New York’s Responsible 100 in its 2021 annual list published in this week’s issue.

Ritz and the other honorees – leaders in business, government, nonprofits and advocacy – exemplify the optimism and idealism that make New York a national leader.

I am humbled and very proud to be among the leaders called out by City & State for my work with Green Bronx Machine,” said Ritz.  “For far too long, those least responsible for injustice, inequity, failing education, health disparities, poverty, social and environmental racism have had to bear the brunt of the burden and consequences. Social responsibility means moving those who are apart from success to becoming a part of it in ways that benefit everyone. High-performing schools, happy, healthy children, living wage jobs – we are farming and growing citizens and success at Green Bronx Machine.”

Each year, City & State shines a light on socially responsible leaders in New York with The Responsible 100 Award. The award honors 100 of New York’s most outstanding responsible executives, thought leaders, visionaries and influencers who are setting new standards of excellence, dedication and leadership in approving their communities and making transformative change.  See the full list of honorees and read about these extraordinary individuals HERE.

About City & State Magazine

City & State a New York-based media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Our in-depth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders every day as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York. We offer round the clock coverage through our award-winning commentary and analysis, weekly publications, daily e-briefs, interviews and events.

Green Bronx Machine Partners with Danone North America to Present First Ever Food for Good Community Event

Newswise — BRONX, NY, December 9, 2021 – Green Bronx Machine is partnering with Danone North America to present the first ever Food for Good Community Event at Community School 55 in Claremont Village, Bronx, NY. This event will provide free Danone North America products, complete with locally submitted, culturally relevant recipes and on-site assistance to facilitate electronic sign-up for SNAP, WIC and EBT benefits, and access to community partners. This event is open to all residents and community members and will also provide all participants with a resource guide created in partnership with NYC Food Policy Center.

Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine, and author of The Power Of A Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, said, ”We could not be more excited to have Danone North America on board as our first food and beverage partner. Access to both organic and plant-based foods is critical for communities likes ours and we are thankful to Danone North America for providing ongoing access to them along with the education and support critical to integrating them into our daily lives. This is not a hand-out but rather a handshake and a meaningful opportunity to grow a long-term relationship where it is needed most. I could not be more excited to share healthy food and access opportunities with our students, teachers, parents, and community at large. This is the exact type of partnership that aligns to our vision for food access, food justice, health, wellness, and nutrition and I’m proud that Green Bronx Machine and Danone North America are leading the way and setting the bar: from the Bronx, to the world!”

“We are thrilled to be working alongside Green Bronx Machine,” said Terrance Irizarry, chief diversity officer for Danone North America. “Our partnership represents our commitment as a business to create a positive impact in our local communities. We’re excited to launch this project and see how our relationship takes shape in the future.”

Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center Executive Director states: “Green Bronx Machine’s commitment to the health and education of NYC residents is known to all of us in the food justice space. We were delighted to support this project with our resources and knowledge base to help GBM create a user-friendly guide that ensures that every resident can understand, access, and obtain the benefits and services they are entitled to. This hyper-local model meets the community precisely where it is at with the goal of providing access and equity for all. It allows folks to get the services and support they need from already existing and under-utilized resources and puts schools and public education at the heart of our communities – win-win-win. The Food for Good Community Access Event is a recipe for simultaneous access and success.”

In the last year alone, GBM and Ritz have distributed more than 130,000 pounds of food, produced 5,000-plus pounds of produce grown locally in the Bronx, built and stocked three new food pantries, delivered weekly 152 backpacks of food to students and fulfilled more than 1,600 emergency food requests from families in need. GBM and Ritz recently won the 2021 Social Innovation Award, were named 2021 Food Hero by TMZ Live , and were awarded the 2021 Artemis CEA Disruptor Award for impact and advocacy in public schools across America. Ritz was recently called to testify for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ending Hunger in America. To date, Ritz and GBM also have trained nearly 1,500 teachers using GBM’s curriculum, impacting more than 50,000 students in the Bronx, across America and around the world (https://greenbronxmachine.org/2020-impact-report/).

About Danone North America

Danone North America is a purpose-driven company and an industry leader in the food and beverage category. As a Certified B Corporation®, Danone North America is committed to the creation of both economic and social value, while nurturing natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Our strong portfolio of brands includes: Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Happy Family® Organics, Honest to Goodness®, Horizon® Organic, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK™, Two Good®, Wallaby® Organic and YoCrunch®. With more than 6,000 employees and 16 production locations across the U.S. and Canada, Danone North America’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible. For more information, visit www.danonenorthamerica.com/. For more information on Danone North America’s B Corp™ status, visit: https://bcorporation.net/directory/danone-north-america.

Green Bronx Machine Named 2021 Classy Award Winner

Newswise — BRONX, DECEMBER 8, 2021 –  In recognition of its impact on urban agriculture, education, food insecurity and access to healthy foods, Green Bronx Machine has been honored with a 2021 Classy Award for Social Innovation.

Watch Classy’s video capturing GBM’s achievements:

“Green Bronx Machine works tirelessly day in and day out to address these important issues in its communities around the country.  For us, the goal is always about growing healthy students, healthy schools, and happy and healthy communities; to inspire healthy living and learning, all around the world,” said Stephen Ritz, Founder, Green Bronx Machine. “From the Bronx, to the world, we are honored and humbled to have the Classy Awards recognize and shine a spotlight on our efforts.”

One of the largest awards ceremonies of its kind, recognizing excellence in social innovation, the Classy Awards identifies and evaluates organizations addressing hundreds of social problems around the world. The winners are determined by the Classy Awards Leadership Council, an honorary board of leaders and experts whose unique perspective and valuable insight establish this recognition as one of the highest honors in the social sector.

Green Bronx Machine was one of 10 organizations selected from over 1,400 nominations across the country to be named 2021 winners, including Blood:Water, Brookview House, Inc., Fair Labor Association, Food Forward, Hope for Haiti, mothers2mothers, Shelterbox USA, The Trevor Project and Treehouse.  

“The Classy Awards began in 2009 to shine a spotlight on outstanding programs run by social impact organizations around the world,” says Pat Walsh, Classy co-founder. “Each and every day we are humbled by the hard work and tenacity of our nonprofit customers, and the Classy Awards serve as our way to honor the sector we serve. Congratulations to this prestigious group of 2021 Classy Award Winners who are embracing new ideas and solving today’s toughest challenges.”

About Classy

Classy is a B Corp Certified Public Benefit Corporation and giving experience platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about. Based in San Diego, CA and trusted by thousands of nonprofits, from the fastest-growing nonprofits to some of the world’s largest social organizations, Classy’s platform provides the formats and flexibility to activate donors when and how they need to by creating more relevant connections to their causes. Since 2011, Classy has helped nonprofits mobilize and empower the world for good by helping them raise over $3 billion on its platform. Classy also hosts the Collaborative conference and the Classy Awards to spotlight the innovative work nonprofits are implementing around the globe. For more information, visit www.classy.org.

In Powerful Testimony to U.S. Congress, Green Bronx Machine’s Stephen Ritz Calls for an End to Hunger in American Schools

Newswise — BRONX, NY, Tuesday, September 15, 2021 – In powerful testimony to members of the United States Congress today, Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine and best-selling author of The Power of a Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, made the case for public schools’ role in ending hunger and improving health and nutrition in America. 

Ritz was invited by U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to testify before Congress as part of its Ending Hunger in America initiative.  Launched earlier this year, Ending Hunger in America features a series of events, including hearings, roundtables and site visits to highlight the reality of hunger in America and steps Congress and the Biden Administration could take to equitably combat it.

Ritz testimony can be viewed on YouTube:

Ritz’s full testimony was entered in the Congressional Record. 

Green Bronx Machine’s Stephen Ritz to Testify Before the U.S. Congress About Ending Hunger in America

Newswise — BRONX, NY, Tuesday, September 14, 2021 – Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine and best-selling author of The Power of a Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, has been invited by United States Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to testify before Congress on the role of schools in ending hunger and improving nutrition. 

Ritz will testify on Wednesday, September 15 at 11:00 a.m.  His testimony can be viewed live at:

Read a transcript of Stephen’s testimony here: download the PDF.

“On behalf of everyone at Green Bronx Machine, I’m humbled to be given the opportunity to address our nation’s leadership on an issue that is at the top of my agenda.  The greatest lever America has for equity and ending poverty are successful public schools.  And, the most important school supply in the world is food. Communities like mine across our great nation are not only under-resourced, but are also over-extracted,” said Ritz.  “Our children are the canaries and our schools are the coal mines.  Children will never be well read if they are not well fed.  Children can’t learn if they are hungry.  At Green Bronx Machine, we grow vegetables, our vegetables grow students, our students grow schools and our schools grow happy, healthy, resilient communities.  Every school in America needs to do this.”

Chairman McGovern, who also serves as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, launched an anti-hunger initiative earlier this year out of the House Rules Committee called Ending Hunger in America.  It features a series of events, including hearings, roundtables and site visits to highlight the reality of hunger in America and steps Congress and the Biden Administration could take to equitably combat it.

On a visit to Green Bronx Machine in June, Chairman McGovern said, “As the Rules Committee crafts a plan to end hunger in America, I want to see the important work being done on the ground in communities across the country. The Green Bronx Machine is using innovative programs to invest in students and build stronger communities. Seeing their success firsthand will be invaluable as we build a roadmap for equitably ending food insecurity in this country and continue pushing for a White House hunger conference.”

In the last year alone, GBM and Ritz have distributed more than 130,000 pounds of food, produced 5,000-plus pounds of produce grown locally in the Bronx, built and stocked three new food pantries, delivered weekly 152 backpacks of food to students and fulfilled more than 1,600 emergency food requests from families in need.  In the process, they have moved school attendance from 40 percent to 93 percent daily and helped provide 2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx.  Ritz and GBM also have trained nearly 1,500 teachers using GBM’s curriculum, impacting more than 50,000 students in the Bronx, across America and around the world (https://greenbronxmachine.org/2020-impact-report/).

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