Green Bronx Machine on 'The Balancing Act' with Montel Williams

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Montel Williams: Well, education is about developing the minds of tomorrow. And it's not just about reading, writing, arithmetic. There's never been a better time than now to teach children about the importance of health and wellness. Stephen Ritz is the founder of Green Bronx Machine and he's joining me here today. Welcome, sir. Thanks so much for being on the show.

Stephen Ritz: Thank you. It is an honor, Montel.

Montel Williams: I'm sure my friend. Well tell me a little bit about this Green Bronx Machine and what was the inspiration behind it?

Stephen Ritz: The inspiration behind Green Bronx Machine is simple. It's that children shouldn't have to leave their community to live, learn and earn in a better one. And I'm from the Deep South, the South Bronx. And let me be clear, food justice is racial justice. So making sure that children, whether you are rich or poor or whether you're in the South Bronx or Beverly Hills, every child deserves access to healthy, fresh food. And the best place to start
it is right in school.

Montel Williams: Wow. Okay. So you probably put one of these in schools. This is your show and tell, right? You brought it with you. Tell me a little bit about it.

Stephen Ritz: So this is a Tower Garden, an aeroponic growing system. What this does is allows students to grow food in school aligned to project based learning and our proprietary Green Bronx Machine curriculum that has transformed schools across the nation and around the world with stellar success. But this is a device that uses 90% less water, 90% less space, is in a classroom, has commercial applications. We have farms in classrooms. We even have a farm in Yankee Stadium. But most importantly, in an age where children are screened out, if they grow it in class, if they see it, they touch it, they smell it. I only wish this was smell-a-vision. They really want to eat fresh food, and in the middle of the South Bronx I've got vegans.

Montel Williams: So should schools consider adding this to their curriculum?

Stephen Ritz: Absolutely. You know, first and foremost, this is a device that literally pays for itself and offers free refills for the rest of your ownership, along with Green Bronx Machine, which comes with an unlimited site license. But when children start eating healthy,
they start thinking healthy. And let me be clear the most important school supply in the world is food, because children will never be well read if they're not well-fed.

Montel Williams: So you are located in the South Bronx, so how does the city kind of, you know, like what you're doing?

Stephen Ritz: Well, 2022 has been a year of epic proportions. Number one, we just won Best of the Bronx Award, which is nice to be recognized by our hometown. We won an Emmy Award for an episode of Growing a Greener World. We've won six Anthem Awards, the National Social Innovation Award. And if that's not enough, our plant based mayor, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, appointed me to the Urban Agriculture Advisory Board. So in an era where we're looking for plant based solutions for so many reasons to heal ourselves and heal the planet, we have the perfect prescription right here. The success speaks for itself.

Montel Williams: I want to eat some of this kale and butter lettuce here myself.

Stephen Ritz: Help yourself, man.

Montel Williams: If people wanted more information where would they go?

Stephen Ritz: People can get more information by going to our Green Bronx Machine website.

Montel Williams: Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much, sir.

Stephen Ritz: But before we go, Montel, I have a surprise for you.

Montel Williams: What’s that?

Stephen Ritz: You've always been a hero of ours. And in honor of your service, we want to donate a Tower Garden and our lifetime curriculum to a school, a facility, maybe a teacher of your choice. And that will come with a lifetime of fruit and vegetables and a lifetime of me in honor of you because you're our hero.

Montel Williams: Oh, thank you so much, sir. Please log in and if you want more information,

Stephen Ritz: Thank you.

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WE GROW VEGETABLES... AND STUDENTS!