Newswise — BRONX, NY, Tuesday, September 15, 2021 – In powerful testimony to members of the United States Congress today, Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine and best-selling author of The Power of a Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, made the case for public schools’ role in ending hunger and improving health and nutrition in America. 

Ritz was invited by U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to testify before Congress as part of its Ending Hunger in America initiative.  Launched earlier this year, Ending Hunger in America features a series of events, including hearings, roundtables and site visits to highlight the reality of hunger in America and steps Congress and the Biden Administration could take to equitably combat it.

Ritz testimony can be viewed here, starting at minute 32:19: https://youtu.be/D_fSxpI6EYs

Attached is a PDF of Ritz’s full testimony to be entered in the Congressional Record. 

 

About Green Bronx Machine

Founded in 2011 by Global Teaching Prize finalist and life-long educator Stephen Ritz, Green Bronx Machine (GBM) is an impact driven, for-purpose organization with 501(c)(3) status.  GBM builds healthy, equitable and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development. Dedicated to cultivating minds and harvesting hope, its school-based model and propriety curriculum uses urban agriculture aligned to key school performance indicators, to grow healthy students and healthy schools.  Simultaneously, GBM also transforms once fragmented and marginalized communities into neighborhoods that are inclusive and thriving.  For more information, visit https://greenbronxmachine.org.

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