More Suffer From Food Insecurity, Yet More Food Is Wasted

According to Leket Israel's newly released 8th annual National Food Waste and Rescue Report, around 2.6 million tons of food was wasted in Israel in 2022, valued at NIS 23.1 billion. The Report was written by BDO and produced in collaboration with Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection and, for the first time, also with Israel's Ministry of Health.

The war amplified the distress

In Israel, approximately 1.4 million people live under conditions of food insecurity. The current war, compounded by the fact that tens of thousands of families have been evacuated from their homes, is severely damaging the national economy and is expected to significantly aggravate food insecurity among disadvantaged populations.

Approximately 30% of Israel's agricultural land is situated in the regions most affected by the war. The Gaza border region, known as "Israel's breadbasket," accounts for around 20% of Israel's agricultural land, while an additional 10% is located along the Confrontation Line in northern Israel.

The problem of food insecurity in Israel is expected to get worse as a result of the war's substantial damage to Israel's agricultural industry, the increased risk of food loss and price hikes for agricultural produce, as well as because of high unemployment and a lack of work in many industries. Consequently, the number of people requiring nutritional support is expected to grow, with more Israelis unable to obtain healthy food on a regular basis.

37% of food production is lost

According to the newly released Report, the extent of food loss in Israel in 2022 reached 2.6 million tons, valued at NIS 23.1 billion and representing around 37% of Israel's annual food production. Around 50% of the lost food is actually salvageable and edible – more than one million tons of food, valued at NIS 8.1 billion. The Report also reveals that 1.4 million people in Israel lived with food insecurity in 2022, meaning that they didn't have regular access to nutritious food.

The parallel phenomena of more people experiencing food insecurity and larger amounts of food loss reinforce the urgent need to apply policies for saving food and transferring the saved food to disadvantaged populations during these times of crisis.

According to Chen Herzog, Chief Economist of BDO and Editor of the Report, "The war accentuates the importance of food security both in regular and emergency situations. Last year, NIS 23.1 billion worth of food was thrown away, the damage to people's health due to nutritional insecurity reached NIS 5.2 billion, and the environmental damage was estimated at NIS 4 billion. The war increases these costs by creating larger losses of agricultural produce and damaging the consumers' purchasing power. As part of the recovery plan after the war, the economic robustness of Israel's agricultural sector must be strengthened, the scope of food loss must be reduced both during regular and emergency times, and a national policy must be devised for saving food. Every shekel invested in saving food generates a NIS 10.6 benefit to the economy, and therefore it is a national investment that should be part of the efforts to boost the economy after the war."

Higher healthcare costs

For the first time, a special section of the report highlights the healthcare ramifications of food loss in Israel. In 2022, the surplus healthcare costs due to food insecurity was estimated at NIS 5.2 billion, which represents approximately 5% of the overall national healthcare expenditure. This data demonstrates that an increase in the number of people without regular access to healthy food leads to substantially higher healthcare costs for Israel's economy.

"Leket Israel and BDO's 8th Annual Report reveals for the first time the impact of food loss on the health of those who suffer from a lack of food security, adding billions of shekels to the national budget," explains Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel. "The current crisis, which is the most serious that Israel has known to date, emphasizes the importance of independent food security for all citizens of the country, and especially for disadvantaged groups. Today more than ever, we don't have the luxury of losing good, high-quality, nutritious and healthy food. Israel's decision makers must initiate programs and urgently budget a system to save food. That is the only way that in the future it will be possible to save and distribute all of the surplus food, achieve food security in Israel and also save over NIS 13 billion of the government's current budget for healthcare, the environment and welfare. When this happens, we will take a big step forward as a country."

Click here to read the full Report.

For more information, visit: www.leket.org/en >>

Partnered with Leket Israel