39% of food produced in Israel last year thrown away

BDO explained this by citing higher public awareness, replacing vats of food with individual plates in dining halls, a growth in online food orders (reducing surplus food grabbed along supermarket aisles), and technical improvements in food storage. However, these gains were offset by population growth and the rising costs of food, as reflected in the value of the waste. Over the past decade, the Israeli economy has lost food valued at a cumulative NIS 211 billion ($57 billion), the report said.

The report noted that alongside the wastage, some 1.5 million residents (about 485,000 households) are categorized as food insecure, meaning they lack sufficient nutritious food.

The report went on to translate the food waste into an estimated annual cost of NIS 4.2 billion ($1.14 billion) to the environment (taking into account wasted water and land, pollution, and waste treatment), and NIS 5.8 billion ($1.57 billion) to the health service (for treating the effects of poorly fed people).

Over the past decade, the Food Donation Act was passed and amended, food rescue and food security were incorporated into the National Food Security Program, food rescue was included in the Welfare Ministry’s criteria for supporting organizations, and inter-ministerial principles for measurement and action were established. In 2025, the government for the first time published a national plan to reduce food loss and waste. However, it has yet to be funded.

Gidi Kroch, Leket Israel’s CEO, said the organization, which collects and distributes food donations, “has proven for years that the solution exists.” “It is possible to rescue nutritious food, turn waste into a resource, and connect abundance with need,” he said. “For 22 years, Leket Israel has worked with thousands of farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and volunteers to rescue high-quality food and distribute it to hundreds of thousands of families in Israel.”

Kroch noted that according to the report, every shekel invested in the rescue of food that would otherwise be wasted yields NIS 10.7 ($3.3) in value to the economy. “This is a cost-effective, immediate, and sustainable solution. The government must allocate appropriate funding to achieve one clear national goal: an Israel without food loss,” he said.

Chen Herzog, chief economist at BDO and editor of the report, said food loss “has been one of the drivers behind the roughly 15% rise in fruit and vegetable prices since the start of the war.” “The confrontation line areas near Gaza and in the north account for about 30% of agricultural output, and economic recovery plans for the north and south must include an operational national policy to reduce food loss and increase food rescue,” he said.

Herzog noted that since this annual report was first produced 10 years ago, the annual cost of food loss has risen by 45%, from NIS 18 billion ($4.87 billion) in 2015 to NIS 26 billion ($7 billion) today, and called for the government to take action on the matter. “The lack of national policy and budget allocation for reducing food loss is an ongoing failure,” Herzog said. “The 2026 state budget must be updated to include funding for implementing a national food rescue plan already this year.”

Sue Surkes