by Brianna Crandall — February 13, 2015—Facilities managers at educational institutions looking for concrete, sustainable ways to support teachers and students may find inspiration from the winner of the 2015 TEDxManhattan Award, the innovative Green Bronx Machine and its founder, educator Stephen Ritz, for “Changing the Way We Eat.”
This year’s second place winner is Cafeteria Culture, which works creatively to achieve zero-waste public school cafeterias and climate smart communities, and the third place winner is Wholesome Wave which improves access to fresh fruits and vegetables for families at risk of, or suffering from, diet-related diseases through local partnerships between community health-care providers and farmers markets.
According to TEDxManhattan, Green Bronx Machine is building out the National Health and Wellness Center at PS 55 within Claremont Village in the South Bronx. The group’s new renovated headquarters will soon feature an indoor teaching garden, indoor commercial farm, a teaching kitchen, and a technology and media center.
The exemplary state-of-the-art facility will be the group’s base from which to launch its core programs, including GBM’s curriculum integrating growing and eating healthy food with outstanding academic performance and life improvement. GBM will also be sending home fresh vegetables with students every week, as well as running weekly lunch-and-learn sessions with the principal.
Green Living Technologies International LLC (GLTi) congratulated Ritz as a product of GLTi’s Train the Trainer program, which has reportedly been responsible for “countless” stories of teacher and student achievement throughout 13 countries with the patented vertical farming technologies. Ritz credited George Irwin and Green Living Technologies with a transformational partnership leading him to his patented technology.
GLTi’s Vertical Farms page contains a video of Steve Ritz’s TEDxManhattan talk as well as videos of GLTi being featured on NBC, the Today Show and more.
