Food Justice

Stephen Ritz teaches in a challenging environment.  Many of his kids are homeless, have special education needs, and would be considered unemployable when they graduated, if they graduated.  Ritz has transformed those statistics, improved the odds for those kids, and turned this idea into a project that is feeding hundreds if not thousands of people. 

What has Ritz done?  He is championing the idea of edible walls and edible spaces.   Producing tons of healthy food by growing it in creative ways, in urban spaces.   Check out this engaging TEDx video:

Stephen Ritz with the Green Bronx Machine

Ritz says, “the greening of America starts first with the pocket, then with the heart, then with the mind.”  How might Ritz’s idea be employed in our own community?

In another video Steve says, “You can talk about 24,000 pounds of vegetables, but we’re not just growing vegetables.  We’re growing citizens, we’re growing graduates, we’re growing engaged communities.”  

Everyone doesn’t have to be a green thumb to do this. As Steve Ritz says, “read about it, blog about it, write about it, talk about it!”

To learn more, see Urban Farming New York and Green Bronx Machine

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