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Survey: Israelis Waste 35 Percent Of All Food Produced In Country

According to the Fourth Annual Food Waste and Rescue Report, jointly compiled by Leket Israel and the accounting firm BDO, Israelis in 2018 wasted 2.5 million tons of food valued at $5.5 billion—amounting to 35 percent of all food produced in the country. The study found that almost half of the loss was salvageable, and that an average Israeli family throws out sustenance worth $890 per year, equivalent to a month and a half of household food consumption expenditures. The waste—more than 80 percent of which occurs after the production stage—was determined to increase food prices across the board by 11%. According to Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel, the government needs “to formally adopt food rescue as the primary solution to eliminating food insecurity in Israel and to place this crisis as a central issue on its agenda—economic, social and environmental.” Last October, Leket was instrumental in the passage of legislation termed the Food Donation Act, which protects food-related associations against potential criminal and civil claims based on damage caused by donated products.