2.5 million tons of food was thrown in to the trash in Israel last year

68,000 tons of disposable plastic containers that are thrown in the trash every year in Israel are nothing compared to 2.5 million tons of food that was thrown in the trash in Israel last year. It is therefore of paramount importance to formulate a national policy to reduce food loss and encourage its rescue.
Reducing and saving food loss is of economic, social and environmental importance. Economically, the loss of food worth NIS 19.1 billion a year reflects economic cost, which is passed on to consumers' pockets, whether through excess costs of food bought and thrown in the trash, or through rising food products whose production costs weigh the loss costs across the value chain.
Rescue of surplus food and transferring it to the needy constitutes an economic activity of turning the surplus food into a resource of economic value instead of waste. Every shekel invested in saving food by organizations such as Leket Israel enables the saving of food worth NIS 3.6. Therefore, saving food is an effective policy tool and has economic benefits compared to benefits and other support mechanisms.
Socially, in Israel, where about 18% of the population is in food insecurity, and where the rate of food expenditure is a high component in relation to household income compared to most OECD countries, it is of paramount importance to save food and transfer it to the needy to reduce social disparities and reduce non- Nutritional security.
Beyond the economic and social benefits, saving food and preventing food waste are of significant environmental benefit. Tossed food produces environmental damage resulting from both the environmental costs of treating the food waste itself, and the environmental impacts of the food production, transportation, refrigeration and storage process. According to estimates by Leket Israel and BDO, 6% of greenhouse gas emissions in Israel in 2020 were due to food loss, and the total environmental cost of food loss amounted to NIS 3.42 billion.
As part of the Israeli government's commitment to the Glasgow Conference, Government Resolution 171 was adopted, which includes a target of a 71% reduction in the amount of municipal waste dumped by 2030. The national toolbox for fulfilling this commitment must also include a policy of encouraging food rescue and food waste prevention.
The UN and many developed countries, especially the United States, have already set long-term national targets for reducing food loss. To ensure that the government's decision to reduce waste by 2030 does not remain a mere decision, and to enable this decision to be implemented while creating economic, social and environmental benefits for the national economy, the state must set national goals to reduce food loss and formulate a national plan to reduce food loss and encourage food donation.
Reducing food loss is a policy tool that creates a national benefit for three basic challenges that the State of Israel faces - both a contribution to tackling the climate crisis, a social contribution to reducing disparities and reducing inequality, and a contribution to reducing the cost of living.
The State Comptroller's report warned as early as 2015 of the lack of government policy on food loss. Seven years after the State Comptroller's report, it is time for the government to formulate a national policy on this issue.
 Written by Chen Herzog, Chief Economist and BDO Partner, Editor of the National Food Loss Report of Leket Israel and BDO in