The Time is Ripe to Adopt International Best Practices and an Orderly Government Policy for Reducing Food Loss and Encouraging Food Rescue in Israel

1

Economic

This is a clear case of market failure. At market prices, rescuing food is not economically viable. However, when taking into account the true value and nutritional benefits, food rescue becomes highly worthwhile.

2

Social

Rescuing food and donating it to those in need would reduce inequality and increase the food security of the country’s residents.

3

Environmental

This effort would save energy, water, land, and chemical resources, and would reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions as well as the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Policy tools for Reducing Food Waste Around the World and in Israel

The 2021 National Food Waste and Rescue Report, similar to preceding reports, demonstrates the significant economic, social, and environmental benefits of food rescue. The comparative review of recommended policies and best practices used to reduce food loss and waste internationally highlights the need to use food rescue as a national policy tool.
  • Economically: This is a clear case of market failure. At market prices, rescuing food is not economically viable. However, when taking into account the true value and nutritional benefits, food rescue becomes highly worthwhile.
  • Socially: Rescuing food and donating it to those in need would reduce inequality and increase the food security of the country’s residents.
  • Environmentally: This effort would save energy, water, land, and chemical resources, and would reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions as well as the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Other benefits of food rescue, relating to the areas of health and politics were not covered in this report. However, it is important to note that dealing with food today is done within the context of food security and the need to feed the world’s inhabitants. This considers population growth as well as political, environmental, and health crises that plague the globe and have a direct impact on its food reserves. Therefore, it is no longer possible to ignore the issue and the following policy tools, which are used in several countries around the world to encourage the reduction of food waste and to promote food rescue should be implemented.

Recommended Policy Tools to Reduce Food Waste and Reduce Food Waste

1
Set a National Goal

The goal should be to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by the year 2030, in accordance with principles laid out by the UN.

Setting a national goal will place the issue on the national agenda, and more importantly, will create a government commitment to act towards this objective.

In addition to setting a goal, it is necessary to establish measurement & monitoring tools to facilitate ongoing review of compliance with the goal.

2
Develop a National Plan for Food Waste

The plan should address food loss and rescue at all stages of the value chain and include the necessary operational, budgetary, and regulatory conditions and incentives for gradually achieving the national food loss and waste reduction and rescue goal. Implementing the plan would require significant involvement of government ministries and it should be coordinated by the Prime Minister’s Office or the Council for Food Security. For example:

The Ministry of Environmental Protection would examine, among other things, policy tools for reducing food waste and promoting food rescue as a means for meeting emission targets in industry and agriculture. Tools could include paying for commerical waste, or a mechanism for pricing carbon created by landfilling etc., in accordance with the Ministry’s reduction policy. The Ministry of Agriculture would review an incentive and reimbursement policy for compensating farmers and growers who donate food instead of destroying it.
The Ministry of Economy would review an incentive and reimbursement policy for compensating manufacturers who donate healthy food instead of destroying it. In addition, they would examine ways to introduce dynamic pricing in supermarket chains, in order to reduce the loss of food as its expiration date approaches. Furthermore, new regulations regarding expiration dates are necessary.
The Ministry of Welfare and Social Security would examine the possibility of financially supporting food waste reduction and food rescue projects and activities. These types of projects would enable the Ministry to support broader sections of the population experiencing food insecurity without having to allocate additional budgets.
The Ministry of Justice would look into the development of legal instruments to support government ministries involved in supporting food rescue, preventing food from being destroyed and reducing food loss and waste at the source. Legal instruments could include legislating laws that encourage/oblige public bodies and large economic enterprises to donate surpluses, creating shelf-life extension protocols, and dynamic pricing, etc.
The Ministry of Education (in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection) would introduce educational tools and programs, beginning in preschool, that encourages healthy, sustainable nutrition, the prevention of food loss and the encouragement of food rescue, whilst teaching students about the environment and sustainable practices, emphasizing the importance of correct nutrition and food rescue.
The Procurement Administration would examine the possibility of obligating private entities participating in government tenders for providing services to the state, that have rescuable food sources (not only in the food industry), to engage with recognized food rescue NPOs as a prerequisite for entering the contract. Likewise, the possibility should be examined (together with the Government Companies Authority) of obligating state-funded bodies that operate a kitchen feeding over 1,000 people a day (either directly or through a subcontractor) to engage with a recognized food rescue NPO as a condition for receiving a budget from the government (including security services, school catering operations, government companies, etc.).
3
Reevaluate Expiration Dates

  • Enact regulations that establish only two types of labels for food products: those based on food safety and those based on food quality. The regulations will state that consuming food with a safety-based date after the date appearing on the label might be dangerous but that it would not be dangerous in the case of food with a quality-based label.

  • Promote legislation that allows selling and donating food after the date on quality-based labels, as per the British model.

  • Launch a campaign to educate consumers to prevent confusion regarding expiration dates.

4
Tax Benefits
Promote increasing the tax credit for food donations, as an incentive to encourage manufacturers, marketers, importers, and others working in the food industry, and growers of agricultural produce and animal-based food products to donate food, including surplus food, and to engage with NPOs that distribute food at no charge to the population experiencing food insecurity.
5
Mandatory Food Donations
  • Promote legislation requiring the donation of surplus food.

  • The legislation must mandate a requirement for all manufacturers, suppliers, and marketers of food, including institutional caterers, to donate unsold food that is fit for human consumption, or alternately donate it for animal feed or to a related industry to reduce food waste.

  • The legislation will regulate the transfer of surplus food to its destination.
6
Examine a Ban on Transferring Organic Waste to Landfill

Similar to the practice in some US states, we recommend forbidding manufacturers from sending more than a certain amount of organic waste to landfill each month, and when this limit is reached, they are required to find another solution – that could be composting, anaerobic digestion, or donation, for the remainder. This would require establishing criteria to determine which businesses and organizations are covered by this prohibition and the threshold above which the prohibition will apply.

Alternately, examine payment for commercial waste – A voluntary mechanism currently allows local authorities to charge businesses a special fee for the collection of commercial waste. This mechanism should be made binding on all Israeli municipalities. To this end, criteria must be established for determining the payment charged to all businesses for commercial waste collection. The amount should be set at a level that creates an economic incentive to reduce disposal in general, and food waste from industry, retailers, restaurants, hotels and banquet halls in particular. Any business that is responsible for creating organic waste will be required to bear the cost of its treatment. The payment will create an incentive for the food industry, food distributors, and caterers to donate the food rather than discard it.

7
Multi-year ongoing governmental support for efforts to reduce food waste and encourage food rescue

Allocate a budget for ongoing efforts and initiatives for reducing food waste and encouraging food rescue.

Allocate funding for food rescue and food security as part of the economic preparation for emergencies, crises, and pandemics.