TEXAS NEIGHBORS | FALL 2021 Share the harvest to feed the hungry Texas rice farmers help the Houston Food Bank feed hungry Texans. By Jennifer Whitlock Field Editor In the Lone Star State, 20% of children and 11% of seniors expe-rience food insecurity—or a lack of consistent access to adequate food—every day, according to the food bank network Feeding Texas. And during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers increased due to the closing of schools and senior cen-ters that help bridge the gap be-tween empty stomachs and food assistance programs. School meals and senior lunches were suddenly unavailable, leaving or-ganizations and families scram-bling to find alternatives. The Houston Food Bank, the na-tion’s largest food bank by distri-bution, helps an estimated 1.1 mil-lion food-insecure people across its 18-county service area. Before the pandemic, the bank was dis-tributing about 400,000 pounds of food daily. Now, it’s closer to one-million pounds per day. But Brazoria County rice farm-er Jacko Garrett has been quietly helping to feed those hungry Tex-WWW.TEXASFARMBUREAU.ORG Jacko Garrett is a second-generation rice farmer in Brazoria County. He established the Share the Harvest Foundation to grow rice for donating to the Houston Food Bank. The organization donates about 400,000 pounds of rice each year. ans for more than 35 years. Because after all, he said, that’s what farmers do—they feed peo-ple. And he firmly believes a man reaps what he sows. “Giving to people who are needy is something the Lord asked us to do, and I don’t think you can ever outgive Him,” Garrett said. “He’s going to make it come back in some kind of way, and we’ve been blessed my whole life. In the good times and the bad, we’ve been blessed. So, I just give because people need it, and I need to do it.” In 1984, Garrett was farming rice with his father, John T. “Jack” Garrett Sr. After seeing a segment on the local news about the Hous-ton Food Bank, they decided to donate some of their rice harvest that year to help local families in need.