In Israel today, nearly 2.6 million tons of food are wasted every year—about half of it is still perfectly edible. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Israelis struggle with food and nutritional insecurity, unsure of where their next meal will come from or whether it will be nutritionally adequate. This contradiction—an abundance of food on the one hand, and deep need on the other—has wide-ranging economic, social and environmental consequences.
Food waste on this scale isn’t just inefficient; it’s irresponsible. In a country with rising living costs, where vulnerable populations are increasingly at risk, the current model of food production and consumption is no longer sustainable. This is where Leket Israel – the National Food Bank steps in, playing a central role in correcting the imbalance.
Founded in 2003 by Joseph Gitler, an immigrant from the United States who was disturbed by the vast amounts of food being discarded while people around him went hungry, Leket Israel has grown into the leading food rescue organization in the country. What began as a personal initiative—a one-man operation delivering surplus meals to shelters—has become a national network that collects food from across the agricultural, commercial and institutional sectors and redistributes it through a network of more than 300 nonprofit organizations.
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