When you think of the next Silicon Valley, something agriculture-related might not be where your mind jumps to. But according to Stephen Ritz, founder of Green Bronx Machine, indoor agriculture has the potential to explode into a major innovative production industry, one greenhouse at a time.
But, while the industry hasn’t boomed across the globe, it is helping hungry communities get better access to healthier food — including the Bronx area of New York City.
Inspired by different businesses in the indoor agriculture industry, Ritz set out to make a change in the Bronx community — using his powers as an educator to help grow food with his students every day
“I am the whole school guy growing food with children in school daily, complete with a curriculum,” he said at the Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit in New York. The focus of this program matches content and standards across the world and has moved to a 45% increase in state test scores.
“We got kids excited about growing food and building farms,” Ritz said, noting that this not only helps them in school, but it gets them excited and ready to work outside of their own community and to how they can change the globe.
According to Save the Children, there are an estimated 17 million children struggling with hunger in America — with a total of 6 million more than before the pandemic. Ritz believes by teaching students about indoor agriculture and vertical farming, there could be a chance to inspire more leaders to join the industry in the future.
“I fight for kids who don’t always get dinner, who don’t have bedrooms to call their own and never see a dentist every day by growing food and planting seeds,” he said. “I get to do amazing things with them and inspire them to enjoy your industry.
“It’s your job to grow the perfect head of lettuce,” Ritz continues. “But it’s my job to grow the perfect place — the appetite, market, employees and innovations for your markets, and I’m going to keep doing that.”
Make sure to stay tuned for more coverage from the Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit.
