K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Israel: War-linked hikes in prices of fruits and vegetables worsening food insecurity – report

January 8, 2024 - from the Times of Israel:

"Leket Israel’s annual report says half of discarded agricultural produce is fit for human consumption and should be saved, claims imports only raise prices.

"Israel’s war against Hamas is making things even worse than they normally are for the 1.4 million Israelis who can’t afford healthy food, according to an annual report published Monday.

"Less food can be rescued and distributed to the needy, says Leket Israel, which published the Food Waste and Rescue Report, because of damage to agriculture along the Gaza border in the south and Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where the IDF is involved in daily skirmishes with the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

"The relative scarcity of blue-and-white agricultural produce, and the doubling of imports to 60,000 tons since the war began, has sent prices rising by double-digit percentages, making fresh fruit and vegetables even less affordable than usual, said the document, released in cooperation with the health and environmental protection ministries.

"According to the National Insurance Institute, 16.5 percent of households suffered from food insecurity in 2022. This translates into 1.4 million people, or 14.5% of the total population.

"Leket rescues food that would otherwise be thrown away and distributes it to those in need via some 200 nonprofit organizations.

"Around 2.6 million tons of food was wasted in 2022, worth roughly NIS 23.1 billion ($6.5 billion), and representing around 37% of the total amount of food produced in the country, the report said.

"Those figures are similar to ones from previous years, as are the still-unanswered calls on the government to help the economy, the environment, and the poor by developing a policy to save the roughly half of that wasted food that according to Leket is fit for human consumption.

"About 20% of Israel’s agricultural land is located in the Gaza border area. This includes 60% of the potato fields, 50% of tomato fields, and 40% of the areas where carrots and cabbages are grown. Around a third of the farmland in areas close to the Gaza border has been off-limits since October 7 for security reasons.

"Another 10% of agricultural land is close to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the report said. This region includes around 60% of the apple orchards and more than 35% of orchards growing peaches. It also produces a large proportion of the country’s eggs and turkey meat.

"Countrywide, around 40% of the agricultural workforce (30,000 people) has been lost. Foreign workers, largely from Thailand, went home after the war began, while Palestinians are not presently allowed to enter the country.

"The thousands of volunteers who have been helping to harvest fruit and vegetables have not managed to replace hired hands.

"In the first week after the outbreak of war, tomato prices rose by about 50%, and by December the wholesale price was still 33% higher than it had been just before the war, the report said. The price of cucumbers increased by about 90% during this time. The price of potatoes rose by about 40% in the first two weeks of the fighting, and by December the wholesale price was still about 20% higher than the prewar price.

"The report cited predictions that this winter will see a 30% drop in the average production of tomatoes, a 10% shortage of cucumbers, and 20% fewer cabbages."