No “Vacation” for Green Bronx Machine This Summer

Work Continues on Food Insecurity, Return to School, Learning Loss, Nonverbal Communications and Urban Farming

Newswise — BRONX, NY, JULY 16, 2021 – For Green Bronx Machine, summer vacation is growing season – for plants, people and the organization itself.   GBM spends June, July and August tending multiple community gardens and running asummer camp, as well as tackling food insecurity and promoting sustainable food systems with national and international leaders, and preparing for the return of in-person student learning this fall and all of the issues that will entail. 

By all accounts, this is one of GBM’s busiest summers yet as it:

• Addresses food insecurity with U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern who visited GBM in June. Hear what he had to say about his visit.

• Hosts Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, member of the Ajman Royal Family and the official environmental adviser to the Ajman Government, at CS 55 to see GBM in action.

• Learns from Mr. Met about the importance of nonverbal communications. Read GBM founder Stephen Ritz’s New York Daily News op-ed piece about his revelations.

• Highlights the role of teachers in changing the narrative of possibility in lower socio-economic areas on the Grateful Living Podcast. Listen here.

• Grows community resilience through education and urban agriculture. Watch this recent NBC news piece talking about the efforts.

• Joins the steering committee of the New York City Nutrition Education Network to help improve the food and nutrition environment for a healthier New York City.

• Partners with EXPLR Media to bring a 10-minute version of Let’s Learn with Mister Ritz to its ad-free, subscription streaming service that provides relevant, relatable and real-world content that empowers young people to become global change agents.

• Awaits arrival of a BBC film crew at CS 55 for inclusion in a documentary to be released in 2022.

• Harvests and distributes tremendous amounts of produce from the Food for Others garden throughout the Bronx.

• Prepares to travel to Colombia later in the fall to talk about the role of urban agriculture in transforming cities at the International Agricultural Conference.