Green St Louis Machine

About Green St. Louis Machine

Mission - Kids in Green St. Louis Machine Classrooms:

● Engage in STEM practices through Tower Gardens technology,

● Promote nutrition by growing and preparing healthy food

● Develop skills in urban agriculture, entrepreneurship and community engagement.

Food apartheid generates high rates of food insecurity, childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in St. Louis. Our city also struggles with community cohesiveness, with deeply rooted historical divides.

Since 2015, Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club of Greater St Louis (Mathews-Dickey) has led an educational initiative, Green St. Louis Machine in partnership with NextGen Growing to address these challenges. 

Inspired by Stephen Ritz and the Green Bronx Machine , whose goal is to help communities dealing with food insecurity by connecting urban agriculture to school curriculum, St. Louis was chosen as the first city to expand this model in local schools. 

The Green STL Machine is housed at the landmark (located in a food desert) Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club which is respected for its legacy left by Martin Luther Mathews and Hubert Dickey Ballentine, and for its athletic excellence.  Green St. Louis Machine currently supports K-12 programming at eight, (soon 10) schools who have aeroponic Tower Garden growing systems in classrooms, including after-school programs. In 2018, The University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL), College of Education joined the team as a partner in promoting meaningful science education and healthy eating in our St. Louis schools and communities. 

Today, we focus on health and STEM education, through hands-on, cross-curricular experiences growing food and we nourish the community through events such as our annual Green Gala.

Partners Include:

● Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club - Founding and Green Gala Host

● St. Louis Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science Program

● Gene Slay Girls & Boys Club of St. Louis

● Missouri Botanical Garden School Programs and Partnerships

● RISE Youth Center of Spanish Lake

● St. Louis Science Center’s GROW Exhibit

● St. Louis Public Schools

● Kairos Academies

● Confluence Academies

● Heru Urban Farms