Data from a report presented Tuesday at a Leket Israel event show that more than 2.6 million tons of food are lost each year in Israel – half of which is salvageable.
These 2.6 million tons constitute about 37% of the food Israel produces and are worth about NIS 23.1 billion. When calculating the waste of natural resources and the cost of greenhouse gas emissions, the cost of food waste in Israel grows to NIS 23.5 billion.
More than 2.6 million tons of food are lost each year. Vegetables in the garbage can, photo: AFP
According to the National Insurance Institute report, in 2021, the rate of food insecurity in Israel was 16%. At least half of the food that is eventually lost is edible and nutritious food that can be directed to populations experiencing food insecurity.
Among the prominent recommendations in the study presented at the conference of Leket Israel and the Ministry of Environmental Protection: setting a national target of 50% reduction in food waste by 2030 in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, developing a national plan to address the problem of food waste in Israel, educating consumers and organizations about the meaning of expiration dates, and the Encouragement of Surplus Food Donations Law for business owners.
Study author, Leket Israel and Minister Silman, photo: Ministry of Environmental Protection and Leket Israel
Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman: "Addressing the problem of food waste requires lateral government treatment, and this is why we intend to establish and lead an inter-ministerial team in the coming months that will submit to the government a national plan to reduce the source and prevent food waste in Israel." The minister thanked the ministry's director-general, Guy Samet, and Rotem Shamai, director of strategy and innovation, who leads the program at the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Gidi Grouch, Leket Israel CEO: "In the State of Israel, there is an inconceivable gap between the number of families living in food insecurity and lacking access to nutritious food and the amount of surplus quality and edible food that is thrown into the trash every day."
The study's author, Harvard Law Professor Emily Broad Leib, said: "Food waste is a major challenge in food systems around the world, especially in countries like Israel where water and available land are even more limited resources."
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