S6 Ep16: From Classrooms to Communities to Perpetuity with Stephen Ritz Part 2
“We are the ones we are waiting for. And that from the ground up— in communities that needed most where we are both under-resourced and over-extraction— together, in community, with community, and with dedicated people, we can grow something greater.”
— Stephen Ritz
School gardens are popping up all over the country as more and more people are recognizing their value in transforming both the lens of public education and green literacy. These gardens are usually designed and built by educators, parents, or community members with the help of students.
The gardens serve as living laboratories where children can learn about the environment and the importance of eating healthy. They also provide a place for students to relax and connect with nature.
Gardens can be found in all types of schools, from urban to rural, and they come in all shapes and sizes. They can be as small as a window box or as large as an acre. No matter their size, all school gardens have the potential to make a big impact on the lives of the students who garden in them.
This is the mission of the Green Bronx Machine Curriculum, an indoor gardening educational program that allows children to eat what they grow! Not only does this help them develop healthy eating habits early on, but it also increases their school engagement and opens up job opportunities. And it’s not just a flash in the pan – this program is here to stay as this initiative keeps growing.
This week, Stephen Ritz is back on the show to share exciting news and developments about the Green Bronx Machine. They also talk about how kids can now both enjoy exploring, planting, and learning both physically and digitally. Tune in and learn what we can do to help more kids experience the joy of education and personal eating outcomes.
Connect with Stephen:
Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator who believes that students should not have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one. An internationally acclaimed award-winning educator, Stephen is the author of the best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant, and founder of Green Bronx Machine Known as “America’s Favorite Teacher,” Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world, which he has evolved into the National Health, Wellness and Learning Center. He and his students have grown more than 100,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx. He was a Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, named Global Humanitarian, Food Tank Hero, TEDx Prize Winner and a Global Food Educator, and has presented at the Obama White House three times. Stephen believes that together, via collaboration, coalition and get to yes solutions, we can all prosper!
Connect with Green Bronx Machine:
Episode Highlights:
00:53 Growing From 17 to 270,000
03:33 The Green Bronx Machine Curriculum
07:19 From Box to Garden
10:30 Together, We Can Grow
Resources:
Podcast
Donate to Green Bronx Machine:
Tweets:
Children are the future, and as such, it’s important to invest in their education not just in academics but also in increasing green literacy. This week @jreichman and @StephenRitz share how we can help in the Green Bronx Machine initiative in growing more vegetables that grow more kids that grow more communities. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #GreenBroxMachine #greenbronxmachinekids #vegetablegardens #greeneducation #harvestparty #indoorgardeningcurriculum
Inspirational Quotes:
02:17 "The secret for success is the art and science of growing vegetables online to high-performing academic standards. So we are transforming both the lens of public education and personal eating outcomes." —Stephen Ritz
10:30 "We are the ones we are waiting for. And that from the ground up— in communities that needed most where we are both under-resourced and over-extraction— together, in community, with community, and with dedicated people, we can grow something greater." —Stephen Ritz
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman Hi, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. Today I'm so pleased to have with you, Steve Ritz and I'm your host Justine Reichman. So welcome, welcome. So today's--
Steve Ritz Good morning. It's so good to see you. You look fabulous.
Justine Reichman Thank you, Steve. It's great to see you, too. You're on my side of the coast, here in Arizona. So it's great to catch up with you and it's always good to hear what you're up to. You're always doing such great stuff. So it's good to catch up, and this is so special, because this we thought of you in particular.
Steve Ritz Well, I'm looking at you and I remember when, you know, just God, you know, it's coming up on just over 10 years since we started this work. And from when I first met you and, you know, recently, we've just realized that we went from 17 children to over 270,000. So who would have known, who would have known. So it's so great to see you and like I'm looking at you and remembering those days.
Justine Reichman That is amazing. And that's a huge amount-- that's --what an amazing feat, like you've got the world.
Steve Ritz That's what I always said,
Justine Reichman It really is. I remember, you know, we met at TEDx Manhattan back in the day, at the New York Times building. And now you've grown so much and now you're traveling all over the world and creating these farms in different places and creating education. And that's what I really want to talk to you about, because we are coming up on this week of education around children, and Next Gen Purpose and Essential Ingredients really wants to support this, and we want to support you and your efforts.
"The secret for success is the art and science of growing vegetables online to high-performing academic standards. So we are transforming both the lens of public education and personal eating outcomes." —Stephen Ritz
Steve Ritz Thank you, thank you, thank you. You know, you hit the key word. It is still for me education. And that's, you know, I'm still not a farmer, per se, the kids are growing way more vegetables than I ever am. But we now have 675 high performing schools, all around the nation in some of the most marginalized communities. And the secret for success is the art and science of growing vegetables online to high performing academic standards. So we are transforming both the lens of public education and personal eating outcomes. Just this month, we learned about some of our students getting into some of the best private high schools in America, which is awesome. Some great college acceptance news and some amazing data regarding our Green Bronx Machine classroom curriculum. So timing for this is perfect. We have requests, we're still small and humble. So you know, we have a big footprint, but we're still small. So this fundraising lift really, really helps us. We get requests now from hundreds of schools across the country that needs support that one training. And we would love this opportunity to raise some money to support them, to give them the tools they need, the support they need, the gardens they need, the technology, and to cover the cost of doing all that. So perfect timing.
Justine Reichman Well, I'm glad that we could be here to support those efforts and support this week, in particular, and in particular you. So for those that are not familiar with what you do and the impact you're having, can you share a little bit about some of the initiatives you have, maybe one or two and the impact that they're having for your children that are going through this?
Steve Ritz Super. So the most important thing we do is, you know, we grow vegetables, our vegetables grow students and our students grow schools. And at the heart of our work is the Green Bronx Machine classroom curriculum. Now, I always said school is really important. So imagine having a curriculum that takes the art and science of growing vegetables indoors using 90% less water, 90% less space, classroom based. So it is an indoor academic learning garden, aligned with full school curriculum. We do it with no annual fees, no current subscriptions $1,349 for a site license and sponsors a school into perpetuity of the training. You'll have access to me tons of online training that you can download. You know, the reality of COVID, sadly, is that it made us as an organization crisis resilient. We figured out on a dime how would you make training accessible, how to make professional development accessible and really took the monetization out of curriculum and education and really democratized it, so that anybody anywhere can afford it along with the purchase of a tower garden for a classroom. So our Green Bronx Machine classrooms curriculum has transformed academic outcomes in ways, and teacher training, in ways we never imagined so much so that the State University of New York is now using it to train teachers in all content and subject areas. We then came up with another program which you are gonna love. And it's called Green Bronx Machine in a Box. And it was the brainchild of Lizette. And literally we send the garden, the curriculum, and an entire box, fully sourced with blenders, aprons, cutting boards, knife, salad spinners, measuring cups, everything you need for a fully immersive classroom, tower to table to tummy experience. And literally even comes with reusable silverware, dishwashing soap and towel. So the teachers never have to go to a 99 cent store. And literally, with the curriculum and the program, they are reading, writing, doing math and science daily while growing themselves a meal. And it culminates in a harvest party. And the most amazing thing is 100% of the teachers across America love the program and 94% of the students want to do it again, which is awesome. Because what are they doing, eating more vegetables, growing more food, sharing more recipes, eating more healthy. So it's really been a blessing. And that's called Green Bronx Machine in a Box. And it's unbelievable, because literally, that box lives in a classroom into perpetuity. We've aligned it with a new TV show called Let’s Learn with Mister Ritz in Tower to Table to Tummy, which is a whole immersive cooking series that teaches kids how to grow food cooking in the classroom, and share it in the classroom and just launched it on a new YouTube channel called Green Bronx Machine Kids. So if you're watching, check it out and please subscribe.
Justine Reichman Wow, Steve,
Steve Ritz Can I say that again?
Justine Reichman I love it. First, let's just talk about how accessible all of this is. It really is accessible, it's accessible, so that everyone can take advantage of this. You've made it so that the students, the colleges, the states, everybody can take advantage of this. So when we go to raise money for this now, talk to me again, reiterate this for me, because you were saying just how accessible this is, how affordable these programs are. And when somebody is donating money, I want them to understand what they're actually getting for this and the impact it's having. So when they're spending $13 or $14, what that's buying for somebody and the impact it's having on somebody.
Steve Ritz Great. So you can sponsor a school curriculum. Imagine an entire school, all the teachers in a whole school in a marginalized community, being trained for $1,349 into perpetuity, teachers come, teachers go, we don't care, we're going to sign you up and stay with you for life. And it's been one of the most transformational tools in America. Realize our number one client are school principals and school superintendents interested in transforming pedagogical outcomes. For another $1,500 you can put an indoor academic learning garden in a classroom into perpetuity. Imagine inside a community where you go from a box to a garden for five minutes if you're a man, and 15 minutes if you're a woman, because you'll read the directions and follow the instructions, where you can grow vegetables all year long, in a classroom with little ones, and enough so that that whole class can have a copious party and tons of salad to eat and take home.
Justine Reichman Wow, Steve, it's amazing what you've created and the access you've given schools to healthier food.
Steve Ritz I'll put it in a different number. Literally, when you break it down, it costs about $43 a student. So if your listeners are willing to donate $43, that's changing a student's life over a nine week cycle with daily instruction access to a garden, and full curriculum development for $43 per student. So donate one for your student and donate one for his or her best friend.
"We are the ones we are waiting for. And that from the ground up— in communities that needed most where we are both under-resourced and over-extraction— together, in community, with community, and with dedicated people, we can grow something greater." —Stephen Ritz
Justine Reichman Well, for every one that is willing to donate, we are matching donations. So I hope that you will donate to the Green Bronx Machine. We will have a link here so that it is easy for you to access. We'll make sure to the show notes and so that it's accessible because this is a great initiatives that Steve has put together, the education, the information, it's just makes such a huge difference as you've heard here. The kids are going to great schools. It is something that these kids can learn take with them. It is both education. It allows them to eat healthy, it allows them to learn, it allows them to work together and take with them on this journey.
Steve Ritz Your kids have is public education and make no doubt about it. You know, as I was sharing with you, I think before we hopped on formally, just this week, we learned that our students, many of whom were the average income for a family of four is $12,930 a month in EBT benefits. We are sending kids to some of the most prestigous schools in New York City and across the nation, and that's the work that we do. I'm gonna send you a link to our data and you could probably use that data right on to show people where their money goes, the impact we make, and the results that we've had to date. And you know, Justin, you were there. You're an early adopter and one of our first supporters. I still remember looking at you on stage, not even knowing what I was doing at TED, like, who is this guy, Ted. And here we are. So it goes to show you that we are the ones we are waiting for, and that from the ground up and communities that needed most, where we are both under resourced and over extracted together in community, with community and with dedicated people, we can grow something greater. So thank you so much for this amazing opportunity and thank you all for tuning in today.
Justine Reichman Yes, thank you all and I hope that we can support you to continue to do the work that you're doing in some small way.
Steve Ritz Yes. Well, thank you, thank you, thank you. God bless you and check out the website. Come visit our--
Justine Reichman And YouTube channel so that they can learn.
Steve Ritz Yes. Green Bronx Machine, subscribe. Yes, please. Green Bronx Machine Kids on YouTube. Its Board of Ed approved, they're great six minute educational capsules. I'm telling you, it's like Mr. Cutter meets the hood, meets Mr. Rogers in the hood with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Justine Reichman I love it. Thanks so much to you, Steve.
Steve Ritz Yeah, you too. Thank you.
Justine Reichman Thanks so much.
