In this presentation at Expo City Dubai, Stephen Ritz of the Green Bronx Machine shares his passion for school‑based urban agriculture and its potential to transform food systems worldwide. He highlights his partnership with ESOL Education, the Gulf’s first net‑positive energy school, and showcases a 24‑day time‑lapse filmed by a fourth‑grader that demonstrates how students can grow food using 90% less space and water. Ritz celebrates the excitement children feel when planting and harvesting, cites the school’s top‑20 ranking in the UAE as evidence of a replicable model, and recounts visits from the Green Chef. He urges the audience to take concrete actions—grow food, compost, reduce meat consumption, and join the movement—emphasizing that anyone can start, even with simple tools like a cheese hat. Drawing on his Bronx experience, he outlines a vision to “green the world,” linking meals to identity and future civilization, and invites collaborators to walk with him in scaling this global initiative.
Chapters
You can grow, and children really get excited about it. I'm proud to partner with ESOL Education, the first net-positive energy school in the entire Gulf. And each and every day, I get to do something amazing. I get to plant seeds with children, and I get to plant a rainbow. I get to harvest it and grow it. And to think that this school is named the top 20 school in the UAE shows that this is a model that can be replicated around the world. So it's the industry's job to grow the perfect head of lettuce. It's my job to grow the perfect heads for those lettuce. And literally to think that the Green Chef came to visit me and my students here in the Bronx is proof that anything is possible. So I like to say I fight, I fight for children all around the world. I fight for children who don't know where their meals are coming from. But when I was a child, my favorite book was The Little Prince. And I tell children that they are all my little princes and my little princesses. And the beauty is that this video This video was filmed by one of my little princesses growing food in school. I don't know, we may have put in the wrong video, Mr. Jesse. I think we did. Um, oh, here it is! And this is what happens in a classroom. We're doing this across the Gulf. This is 24 days time-lapse with a 4th grader showing the beauty of growing food and what is possible with 90% less space, 90% less water, and the joy and excitement that children can feel when you get to grow something So I'm so proud to be a part of this movement. I'm honored to be here with all of you today. I can't wait to go do my VIP tour later. I can't wait to cook with kids. And I urge all of you to do something amazing, which is grow something greater with me. And the cool thing is you can do it with a cheese hat and a bow tie. So no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. And you don't have to be great to start. But you have to start in order to be great. So one less burger, please, and let's have something, you know, let's have a meal, let's have some of those salt-loving plants today. Let's get out there and think about how we can get along with the world and compost. And I'm going to try and take this movement all around the world. Plants are our friends. And in the Bronx, my students and I have gone from this to this, from this to this, from this to this. And from this to this, from this to that, and my goal is to green the world. So I'm asking all of you to work with me, walk with me, and let's grow something greater. So from the Bronx to the world, do something today that your future self will thank you for. It's no longer about birthplace, it's about breakfast. It's no longer about lineage, it's about lunch. And it's no longer about your DNA, it's about what you're eating for dinner. So the past doesn't equal the future, and if you grant me agriculture, I think it was said by someone far greater than me, I shall guarantee you civilization for you. So what will you do to make epic happen? My name is Steve Ritz. I've got passion for my plants and I'm not afraid to show it. I'm farming all around the world and I'm determined to grow it. That's my organization and you can follow me here and— Thank you kindly.
