Surplus Produce in Israel
This Year, Thousands in Israel Will Suffer Malnutrition for Want of Produce Being Destroyed
Food is destroyed in order to regulate produce market prices, but in Israel thousands of people suffer hunger for want of food going to waste. Even those with the limited financial capacity to feed their own family are often the victims of malnutrition due to diets high in inexpensive carbohydrates and low in the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that can only be obtained by enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables. Thousands of tons of surplus produce is destroyed in Israel every year, but should high market prices be paid for in human lives?
Yad Eliezer doesn’t think so.
Yad Eliezer's Solution
Over 1,000 Tons of Surplus Fruits and Vegetables Distributed Yearly
The Jewish heart knows compassion. The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and over fifty kibbutzim, moshavim, packaging plants, and wholesale distributors from around the country have teamed with Yad Eliezer to donate over one thousand tons of fresh fruits and vegetables every year to feed Israel’s hungry. This national, industry-spanning charity initiative is run entirely by Yad Eliezer. Fresh fruits and vegetables were distributed to over 30,000 people in 2009.
Rather than destroying their surplus produce, these heroic farmers and retailers donate their oranges, peppers, tomatoes, peaches, potatoes, bananas, apples, carrots, and many other crops to Yad Eliezer for distribution to families in need. Yad Eliezer’s fleet of four specialized industrial trucks traverse the length and breadth of the country on a daily basis picking up large quantities of produce and delivering it to some sixty distribution sites serving thousands annually. Trucks matter --hundreds of thousands of families below the poverty line wait to be included in the Yad Eliezer Surplus Produce Program for want of additional trucks to pick up the tens of thousands of tons of fresh produce still being destroyed.
Though this program has won numerous awards and accolades, including the prestigious President’s Letter Award and Parliament Speaker’s Prize, the farmers’ greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that, thanks to their contribution, another child in Israel will not go to sleep hungry tonight.
