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Quest recently hosted a lunch-and-learn event at our Secaucus headquarters to hear from Stephen Ritz, founder of Green Bronx Machine (GBM). GBM is doing transformational work to advance health equity in under-resourced communities by growing vegetables in schools—and Quest is lending support as part of its Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative.
Ritz gave an energizing presentation about Green Bronx Machine’s mission: to help build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through the power of food. GBM turns classrooms into agricultural learning experiences, using the Tower Garden where students grow their own vegetables and watch as their seedlings become edible, nutritious, and delicious food.
“Green Bronx Machine is driven by the fundamental belief that healthy students help drive healthy schools, and that healthy schools are at the heart of healthy communities,” said Jim Davis, Chairman, CEO & President, Quest Diagnostics. “Our partnership with Green Bronx Machine is just one example of how we are living our Purpose—Working together to create a healthier world, one life at a time.”
Attendees also got a sneak peek of Ritz’s award-winning documentary, "Generation Growth," which highlights how access to nutrition education and healthy food can create healthier communities.
The Quest Diagnostics Foundation first teamed up with Green Bronx Machine through Q4HE in 2022, providing a grant to help GBM expand its reach to 30 schools in Colorado, Ohio, and New York. In April, the Quest Diagnostics Foundation provided an additional grant to bring the GBM program to 50 more schools – 25 in Baltimore and 25 in Houston.
A special addition to Quest’s HQ:
After Ritz’s presentation, the Quest team unveiled a new addition to the building: its own Tower Garden. The vertical indoor farm grows plants stacked on top of each other instead of spreading out in a garden, allowing Quest to grow nutritious vegetables in its Secaucus lobby!
The produce from Quest’s Tower Garden will be donated to Oasis, a nonprofit in Paterson, NJ, dedicated to helping women and children rise out of poverty.
Click here to learn more about Quest’s work with Green Bronx Machine through the Q4HE initiative.
Click here to sign up for a screening to view Generation Growth, the award-winning documentary about GBM’s work, and learn about how you can get involved in supporting their mission.
