Tzepi Friedkin, Director of the Produce, Markets, and Environment Division at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: “The new pilot will connect the field to the community and Israeli agriculture to a national social mission. This is an important pilot for examining the streamlining of food rescue and the reduction of food loss, which will allow for an increase in the volume of rescued produce, shorten and streamline processes, and reduce environmental damage resulting from food landfilling.”
In a reality where 2.6 million tons of food are thrown away in Israel every year – food rescue and the reduction of food loss are important and central issues. To reduce food loss and prevent unnecessary landfilling of unrescued food, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with the “Leket Israel” organization, is launching an innovative pilot these days aimed at examining the rescue of surplus agricultural produce from farmers across the country and its transfer to those in need.
The pilot, which will be launched as part of the implementation of the principles of the National Food Security Program 2050, is based on the development of a GIS-based application that will allow farmers to report in real-time on surplus produce arising in the field or packing house, and will enable the “Leket Israel” organization to reach and rescue it. Thus, thousands of kilograms of edible produce, which might have been sent to landfill, will be transferred to those in need, helping to increase the accessibility of many and diverse populations to fresh, healthy, and nutritious food. Beyond its significant social contribution, the pilot is also expected to reduce the environmental damage caused by food landfilling and strengthen the connection between farmers and the community.
Until this initiative, the farmers’ reporting system to the organization was based on telephone contact, which involved lengthy processing times and high operational costs. The new application will allow a transition from a reactive system to a proactive and digital system, thereby enabling more efficient response, shorter collection times, and ensuring that the produce collected will be fresher and have a longer shelf life.
The pilot integrates with the interim goals of the National Food Security Program, which aims to ensure by 2050 a regular supply of healthy, diverse, and affordable food for all residents of the country, while promoting sustainable local agriculture. In particular, the development of the application is the product of the work of one of the six working groups that formulated the program, the Food Loss group, which recommended providing incentives and raising awareness for reducing loss and rescuing food through the implementation of technologies and practices to reduce losses along the value chain. One of the program’s goals in this context is to reduce food lost per person by 20% by 2035, and by 50% by 2050.
Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel: “After more than 20 years of activity, we are excited to launch today together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development the new application for rescuing surplus agricultural produce. This is an important step that will connect farmers to the community, enable advanced and innovative and efficient management of the food collection process. The application will contribute to reducing food loss alongside strengthening food security and reducing environmental damage. I thank the Ministry of Agriculture for the significant cooperation.”