2.5 million tons of food worth 4.2 billion euros is thrown away every year in Israel (in comparison: 90 million tons in the European Union) – 50% of which is considered suitable for human consumption. This vast amount of wasted excess food poses a paradox to the increasing amount of people that live in precarious conditions and are in need of food.
To bridge this gap Leket Israel, “the National Food Bank of Israel” was founded in 2003. It is the leading organisation in food rescue in Israel and is the only non-profit whose sole activity is to collect and redistribute surplus food to benefit those who need it.
Leket Israel collects high quality food from several sources: agricultural produce from orchards and fields, cooked meals from the Israeli Defence Forces, corporate cafeterias, hotels and restaurants, event venues and catering companies, and many more. 195 non-profit partner agencies then distribute it to around 175,000 beneficiaries. 35,000 needy families receive around 9 kg of fresh food per week.
52,000 volunteers from Israel and abroad help Leket Israel realise their vision of food security for all. One of them is Alex Feldmann (30). He immigrated to Israel in 1991 with his family and shortly after that moved to Kfar Tikvah in the north of Israel, a village for people with special needs. In spite of his daily challenges he travels 3 days a week to Leket’s Nesher logistics centre where he sorts and crates produce for the needy in preparation for delivery to Leket’s partner organisations: “I am happy that the needy receive assistance in food deliveries… it makes me feel good to help them”.
In gratitude to his strong dedication and his commitment to his work at Leket, Alex Feldmann was recently recognized with a special Leket award for volunteerism in a moving ceremony at the Knesset, which was also attended by Israeli parliament leaders. The ceremony was part of Leket Israel’s National Day of Promoting Policy for Food Waste and Rescue.
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