Green Bronx Machine’s Founder Stephen Ritz and Babylon Micro-Farms Partner to Promote Ag Education
September 18, 2024 While he may have stumbled into agriculture by accident, Stephen Ritz, educator and founder of Green Bronx Machine, has become the face of health, wellness, workforce development, and ag education – nationally and internationally – over the past 20 years. His presence in the agriculture sector grew even stronger this month after Babylon Micro-Farms named him their brand ambassador on September 4, 2024.
From Solving Equations to Growing Sustainably
Ritz’s teaching career began in 1984 when he taught his favorite subject, mathematics. “If you ask any of my students why Mr. Ritz likes to teach math, they’ll say ‘because there’s always an answer and you can prove it.’” he said.
Stephen Ritz | Photo: Green Bronx Machine
In the early 2000s, Ritz transferred to a new school closer to his home following a family tragedy so he could better manage work and life obligations. He unknowingly walked into one of the most challenged schools in all of New York City that had a 17% graduation rate and a history of violence, dysfunction, and chronic failure – so much so, it was slated to be closed and phased out entirely. Ritz ended up taking a job as a science teacher even though he lacked knowledge and experience in the subject. There wasn’t a set curriculum for Ritz to follow, which proved to be especially difficult given his nonexistent background in science.
One day, he was called down to the principal’s office to retrieve a package that had arrived for him. When he tore it open, he found dirt and bulbs that looked like onions. Unsure what to do with the package, he threw it under the radiator in his classroom and forgot about it completely. He was soon reminded of it when two students got into an argument that resulted in a fistful of… flowers?
“There was a huge fight in one of my classes one day,” he said. “I thought this kid was grabbing a weapon from under the radiator, but he came out with a handful of flowers. It turns out that those ‘onions’ were flower bulbs, and the heat and moisture from the radiator forced them [to bloom], and we had hundreds of yellow flowers growing behind the radiator. That year my students and I planted thousands of bulbs across NYC to commemorate 9-11 and the rest was history.”
Growing from the Inside Out
Since discovering those yellow flowers behind his radiator, Ritz has become an advocate of hands-on, project-based learning, and sustainable growing inside and outside of the classroom. He went on to establish Green Bronx Machine (GBM), a nonprofit organization located in the South Bronx that aims to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through hands-on learning and urban agriculture. Originally an after-school program, GBM has pioneered the Green Bronx Machine Classroom Curriculum, which used in almost 900 schools around the world.
Closer to home, Ritz has helped create 2,200 living wage jobs, largely in urban ag and hospitality. He speaks and consults globally at Fortune 100s, universities, hospitals, has built a profitable commercial farm run by foster care children in Appalachia – the first in the nation – and even has a student farm at Yankee Stadium.
“I’ve learned that when you change food, you change everything,” he said. “For me, the most important school supply in the world is food, because children will never be well read until they are well fed.”
While GBM students have grown more than 300,000 pounds of fresh vegetables in community farms, tower gardens, and nutrient film technique (NFT) tables over the years, Ritz is most passionate about cultivating high performing schools, empowered teachers, and happy, healthy, driven students.
“I believe that no child rises to low expectations,” he said. “Children don’t know how much you care until you show them. Showing up is very powerful. Small successful acts and activities, repeated again and again and amplified with success, acknowledgement, and admiration can really add up quickly in communities like mine. A seed well-planted and tended-to can grow into a crop of epic proportions. Our goal is to grow something greater and from our humble corner of the globe, we are determined to change the world.”
Ritz’s work has been recognized globally. He’s received awards at the White House, had a personal visit with Pope Francis, formed partnerships with Google and Tufts, and was recently named by Fast Company as 2024 Most Innovative Company.
Stephen Ritz and Alexander Oleson, CEO and co-founder of Babylon Micro-Farms. | Photo: Babylon Micro-Farms
Partnering Up
Babylon Micro-Farms, a company that creates miniature hydroponic farms to simplify indoor farming, recently awarded Ritz’s passion for sustainable growing and hands-on learning by naming him brand ambassador. These two values made him the perfect ambassador for their brand and advocate for their STEM Garden, which is designed to make vertical farming accessible to students of all grade levels.
“The STEM Garden represents sustainability, food access, and opportunity for all,” said Ritz. “With the STEM Garden, educators can create their own hands-on lessons in agriculture, biology, and environmental science.” In his new role as brand ambassador, Ritz will promote the STEM Garden in schools across the country to make vertical farming a staple in every classroom, including his own.
“Who wouldn’t want something like [the STEM Garden] in their classroom?” asked Ritz. “Who wouldn’t be fascinated by it? We’re looking to take that fascination and move it towards inspiration, aspiration and a whole new level of accomplishment — academically, socially, behaviorally, food access wise, and career wise. This is technology that engages students on and across multiple platforms and can help feed the world. And best of all, built right here in America, with and by folks who look just like my students – talk about see it to be it!”
Stephen Ritz transporting a STEM Garden to his classroom in the Bronx. | Photo: Babylon Micro-Farms
Bringing Sustainable Growing to Every Classroom
As brand ambassador for Babylon Micro-Farms and a fervent advocate of the STEM Garden, Ritz strives to make vertical farming a part of every K-12 school program. To learn more about Green Bronx Machine and Ritz’s extensive background in ag education, watch the award-winning documentary, “GENERATION GROWTH,” which follows Ritz and GBM across the nation, growing school performance, urban farmers, healthy eaters, resilient communities and hope everywhere they visit.
“’GENERATION GROWTH’ gives us the hope we need right now,” says Stacy Tornio, multimedia content director at We Are Teachers. “The film captures the dedication of teachers and the impact of plants, showing how they can transform and uplift a community. It’s amazing to see how gardening can improve student attendance, reduce behavior problems, and boost grades. This film illustrates how a simple garden can nurture growth, hope, and create a sense of togetherness.”
Katie Stebbins, executive director of Tufts Food & Nutrition Institute, emphasizes how food system leaders can learn from the film. “GBM’s success in bringing hands-on learning across the country is a monumental shift,” she said. “Food system leaders are positioned to uniquely capitalize on the motivational impact of this film. Ritz and Green Bronx Machine are the beating heart of this incredible movement.”
The business and sustainability worlds have taken notice of the film as well. “GENERATION GROWTH is a feast for the heart, mind, and spirit – and will change how you think about food, education, poverty, and what it takes to transform lives and communities,” said Joel Makower, chairman of GreenBiz Group.
Ritz and Green Bronx Machine grow food in schools with children of all ages. Being brand ambassador for Babylon Micro-Farms makes this even easier for Ritz, and he views his partnership with the company as a “game-changer.”
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to grow and eat healthy food,” Ritz said. “Their technology is regarded as amongst the most innovative in the world. It affords me and every educator the opportunity to use the STEM Garden as a state of the art, highly interactive tool to support the work of Green Bronx Machine and to grow schools, communities, farmers, and the most delicious and nutritious, local food anywhere and everywhere. I am honored, humbled, and beyond excited to be a part of their company and to farm with the STEM Garden. Stay tuned and get ready.”