08/25/2026
GARDEN-TO-FOOD BANK. Meet Roy Bell, a longtime gardener who was excited to share some special red okra seeds with our garden here at the Food Bank last year. He also just happens to be the father of Lori Bell, our Chief Impact Officer.
The land he owns in Copperhill, Tennessee, has been home to generations of Bell gardeners. Lori told us, "I asked him how far back he could safely say that food had been grown on the land, and he said all the way back to his great-great-grandfather. My dad was born in the ’40s, so I’ll let you do the math on that. It’s in his Bell blood."
What he believes is pretty simple...there is enough food in this country that no one should go hungry.
She went on, "So those okra seeds have become something much bigger than a handful of plants in a garden. They are growing food for our neighbors. They are carrying on something that has been in my family for generations. And, in a small but beautiful way, they are helping my dad’s belief take root: there is enough. We just have to make sure everyone has access to it."
