Juan Pablo Avila

Carlos Jimenez
Ignacio Montero
Domingo Olivares

Green Bronx Machine

The Green Bronx Machine is

the result of a collaboration
between life-long educator
Stephen
Ritz
and
his
students. Its a non-profit
organization
dedicated
to
growing, re-using, resourcing
and recycling our way into
new and healthy ways of
living.
Using
classroom
gardens (both indoors and
out), school kids learn how to
plant, tend, harvest, sell and
eat fresh vegetablesin the
middle of a food desert with
limited access to fresh food.

Location
Is

located in the South Bronx.

Public School 55, 450 Saint Pauls Place,
Bronx, NY

Mission

Green Bronx Machine builds healthy, equitable, and resilient

communities through inspired education, local food systems,
and 21st Century workforce development.

Types of Plants

In the green bronx machine they cultivate a

variety of vegetables like tomato, eggplant,
differents types of lettuce, onion, green peppers,
chives, Arugula, Radicchio, Beets, etc.
They have grown over 30 thousand pounds of
vegatables to date.

Methods

Living green walls.

Rooftop farming.

Hydroponics.

Benefits

The school, students and the community benefit from these

proyect.
The students eat healthy food that they harvest.
The community buys the products in small market they
organize at the school.
The community purchases food for pennies on the dollar that
they cant get locally in their own communities.
They will grow enough food to send 100 students per week
home with bags of fresh vegetables, 52 weeks per year.

Influence & Impact In The Community

Students drop out rates have lowered dramaticly beacuse of the interest
that exists on the proyect (attendance rates have increasedfrom 40% to
93% ).
Students are eating healthier.
Students are dropping their waistline.
Students are getting a set of new skills.
Community benefits from lower price and high quality products.
Healthystudentsare at the heart of healthy schools, and healthy schools are
at the heart of healthy communities.
By integrating plant-based teaching with core school curriculum, they
willgrow healthy food,healthystudents andhealthyacademic performance.
Our ultimate goal is to turn this into a center that not only directly impacts
the PS 55 community, but also serves as a prototype for replication across
New York City and the rest of the country.

We Cultivated.

Basil
Coriander
Thyme
Chili
Pepper

We selected this plants because their seeds were available in our local
markets and their very easy to grow. With just a little water every day and
sunlight.

Some Recepies Examples

Basil (Pesto, Easy summer pasta salad, Pizza with fresh basil)
Coriander (Coriander & garlic sauce, coriander rice,
coriander drink)
Thyme (Thyme corn bread, Sauted butter thyme
mushrooms, Thyme potatos)
Pepper (Cream cheese with pepper, Pepper steak, Stuffed
peppers)
Chili (Sauces, Creamy white chili, Chili con carne)

Coriander

Learning Experience

We learned how simple vegetables can grow in a

controled enviorment like a class room or at your
house.
The vegetables we cultivated can be useful in our
homes as they provide food for our familys.
This experience tought us how vegetables are a
healthy and great source of energy.
They provide nutrients for a healthy life.