US: Quest partners with Green Bronx machine, unveils new Tower Garden

Quest recently hosted a lunch-and-learn event at its Secaucus headquarters to hear from Stephen Ritz, founder of Green Bronx Machine (GBM). GBM is doing 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.

Attendees also got a sneak peek of Ritz's 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.

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 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.