{"id":6535,"date":"2025-02-19T12:20:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T12:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodwastereport.leket.org\/%d7%9b%d7%9e%d7%94-%d7%9e%d7%96%d7%95%d7%9f-%d7%94%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%9a-%d7%9c%d7%90%d7%99%d7%91%d7%95%d7%93-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%a9%d7%a8%d7%90%d7%9c%e2%80%8b\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:10:33","slug":"how-much-food-is-wasted-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/foodwastereport.leket.org\/en\/how-much-food-is-wasted-in-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"A Decade of Measuring Food Waste and Rescue in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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the cost of foodwaste has increased by 45%<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Over the past decade<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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reaching a cumulative total of NIS 211b (USD $57b), in addition to substantial environmental and health-related costs.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The initiative to publish an annual Food Waste and Rescue Report was born a decade ago, following the release of the 2015 State Comptroller\u2019s report titled Food Loss and Waste: Social, Environmental, and Economic Implications. That report concluded that Israel lacked a central body responsible for collecting data on food waste and rescue, and had no comprehensive policy on the issue. In response, Leket Israel decided to step in and fill this gap, publishing, together with BDO, the first comprehensive report measuring the scale of food loss and waste, the associated costs, and the potential for rescue. Since then, the Report has become an annual publication, and its findings have helped shape both policy and legislation.<\/p>

A decade later, in October 2025, the State Comptroller published a new report, titled Ensuring Israel\u2019s Food Needs in Emergencies. This report, issued in the wake of the Swords of Iron War, highlights the importance of national food security as a foundation for civilian resilience and economic stability. It also cites the most recent Leket Israel Report, which analyzed agricultural losses during the war.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Decade-long Trends and Indicators Scope of Food Waste:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Per capita food waste declined by 13% over the decade. This decline is particularly notable given that Israel\u2019s population grew by 19% during the same period. However, despite the 13% drop in per capita food waste, the total volume of food waste (in tons) increased by 4% over the decade, due to demographic growth. In net terms, this reflects a 6% increase in total food waste. Population growth means more waste generation and more food being lost, which in turn makes the challenge of food rescue even greater.<\/p>

The reduction in per capita food waste can be attributed to a number of factors, including improved technologies for food preparation and storage, shifts in consumption habits, such as increased online grocery shopping and personal food delivery orders, and growing consumer awareness of the consequences of food waste.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A significant portion of this increase is due to a sharp rise in food prices, particularly for fruit and vegetables, which outpaced general inflation. Between 2015 and 2025, fruit and vegetable prices rose by 29%, compared to an 18% increase in the Consumer Price Index. Other food prices (excluding fruit and vegetables) also increased at a faster rate than the national average, rising by approximately 20% over the same period.<\/p>

Environmental and health-related costs have also increased over the years:<\/p>

Environmental costs – <\/strong>which have been measured in this Report since 2019, have risen by 30% during that period. This increase is due to the overall growth in food loss and waste and the fact that a large share of the waste now occurs in the later stages of the value chain\u2014distribution and consumption\u2014where each unit of food already embodies the full environmental footprint accumulated during cultivation, production, packaging, and transportation. Additionally, food waste leads to a greater waste of resources, including water, land, and energy, and increases the volume of waste that requires disposal. Further impacts include rising greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.<\/p>

Health costs – <\/strong>The health-related costs of food waste in Israel continue to rise each year, driven by the growing number of households experiencing food insecurity, the deepening severity of that insecurity, and its cumulative impact on public health. Rising prices of healthy foods, combined with widening economic disparities, are leading more households to forgo fruit, vegetables, and other nutritious foods in favor of cheaper, highly processed alternatives that harm health. This poor diet contributes to a steady increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and depression, which in turn drive up national expenditures on medical services, medications, and hospitalizations. Because these conditions are long-term and tend to worsen over time, the health consequences and economic costs to the national healthcare system continue to accumulate year after year, becoming more severe as food insecurity expands.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Food waste in institutional consumption was the most volatile among all sectors.<\/strong> The most significant drop occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 46% decrease in institutional food waste between 2019 and 2020. This reduction was primarily due to a sharp decline in consumption across restaurants, hotels, event venues, workplace catering, and educational institutions as a result of lockdowns and restrictions.<\/p>

During the Swords of Iron War, there was no overall decrease in institutional food consumption, however the distribution of food consumption shifted among institutional sectors. This was due to a rise in the number of active reservists, reduced physical attendance at workplaces, and the continued impact of COVID-era changes in workplace food consumption patterns, such as remote work and the replacement of dining halls with individually ordered meals.<\/p>

Agriculture – <\/strong>During the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural food loss increased by 3%, mainly due to labor shortages during lockdowns, export restrictions, and the closure of the institutional sector.<\/p>

In the Swords of Iron War, agricultural production declined by 7% in 2023 and by a further 6.7% in 2024. Over 30% of Israel\u2019s agricultural land lies in front-line areas affected by the conflict: approximately 22% in the Tekuma region (Gaza envelope) and another 10% along the northern border. A portion of the decline in agricultural output can be attributed to the increase in crops left unharvested in the field. These crops could not be collected due to either their location in conflict zones or a lack of available labor. However, this production loss is not fully reflected in food loss data, as unplanted crops\u2014while representing a reduction in domestic output\u2014are not classified as food loss under widely accepted international methodologies. Importantly, thanks to extensive volunteer efforts during the war, which helped harvest crops and prevent their loss, the overall damage in the agricultural sector was mitigated.<\/p>

Household Consumption – <\/strong>During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions led to a shift in consumption toward the household sector, resulting in an 8% increase in household food consumption.<\/p>

Retail and Distribution \u2013 <\/strong>During the pandemic food waste declined by 4.5%, due to the closure of open-air markets and a shift toward purchasing from supermarket chains and through online platforms.<\/p>

Post-Pandemic Impacts – <\/strong>The pandemic brought about structural changes whose effects are still felt today:<\/p>