Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, is Israel's leading food rescue organization. Recently, the organization published a report that compiles data on the state of Israeli agriculture since the start of the war with Gaza.
Conducted in collaboration with BDO Consulting and the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Health, the report revealed shocking numbers: since October 7, 150.000 tons of Farm products in Israel. This volume of wasted food has a price close to 185 million dollars.
Although the volume of waste is always high, in this period it represents double the usual amount.
The report of Leket explains that one of the determining factors is the reduction of access to agricultural areas and the decrease in the number of foreign and Palestinian workers.
It is estimated that the agricultural workforce decreased by 40%, and in addition, 30% of Israeli agricultural land is close to the border with the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, the conflict zones.
Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket, stressed that while “Thai workers have returned, we still have a shortage of between 20.000 and 30.000 workers daily” and added that “this shortage causes fewer crops to be harvested and prices to rise.”