The Leket Israel food waste annual report design
The annual national report of food waste and rescue is being produced for the sixth year, by Leket Israel and BDO with the design and production by Studio Galia Infographics. The report is based on economic models and comprehensive research. The findings of the report indicate high viability for food rescue, from the economic, social and environmental aspects. The problem of food waste is global, many countries have formulated legislation and targets to encourage food rescue.
Thanks to the work of Leket Israel and its annual report, in October 2018 a law was enacted to encourage the rescue of surplus food – an important component of the national food rescue program. Each year we add a new chapter dealing with a chosen market sector (agricultural, institutional, retail) or a major relevant issue.
2020 Report, effects of covid19
The report for 2020 focused on examining the impact of the Covid19 crisis on food waste in Israel. It emphasises the importance of food rescue as a key policy tool. The Covid19 epidemic has exacerbated the food insecurity problem in Israel: on the one hand, damage caused to earning capacity and the removal of workers from the labor force, and on the other hand, damage caused to traditional food security systems due to Covid19 restrictions.
The national food waste and rescue report has been published for the sixth year by Leket Israel with the aim of serving as a basis for a public discussion on food waste issues, and as a tool for advancing and changing food waste and rescue treatment.
This year was also our third year of joining OrensoUX studio in creating a dedicated website for easy online reading of the report. The accessibility of data on a digital platform has led to a much greater exposure of the report to the general public and enables easy content sharing.
The environmental cost of food loss in Israel 2019 was estimated at NIS 3.2 billion. Of which NIS 1.4 billion loss are a result of unnecessary waste of land and water resources, NIS 1 billion from greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants and NIS 0.8 billion as a direct cost of waste treatment. The loss of food in the various sections produces about 1.9 million tons of municipal waste, which constitutes 35% of the waste in Israel.
The Leket fifth national report of food waste and rescue has been published for the first time in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The purpose of the report is to serve as a basis for public discussion on the problem of food waste, and to be a tool for formulating national policy measures that will lead to a change in the treatment of food waste and rescue in Israel.
Our focus this year was on the main chapter of the 2019 report – The environmental consequences of food waste in Israel. The process of working on the chapter infographics was more complex and challenging than ever. In addition to the food waste estimates throughout the stages (agriculture, industry, packaging, transportation and consumption), the chapter infographics had to highlight environmental cost data. Tremendous economic resources going down the drain: soil, water, energy, pesticides and fertilisers invested Production, import and marketing of the product, while throughout the process greenhouse gases and pollutants are emitted in huge quantities.
The annual food loss in the retail market is NIS 4.6 billion. This is the sector with the highest amount of salvageable food.
For the retail and distribution market loss data, we created a double spread that describes a supermarket scenario. With a list of the losses in food categories along with the main reasons for the loss. Similar to the 2018 report, we chose to portray this day to day scenario in order to generate empathy in the readers.
As every year, the launch of the report took place at a special event noting the encouragement of salvaging food, in the Israeli Knesset, 2018, led by the Leket organization.
For the benefit of this important day, we have compiled, in addition to the printed report and summary, other products such as a presentation, leaflets, bookmarks and rollups, aimed at empowering campaign messages, bringing influencers to action and promoting the legislation to encourage food salvaging and the formulation of an overall food rescue plan.
We chose to present the data with a pickup truck that travels between the various institutions collecting the salvageable food – 70 tons of food a year, which is about NIS 1.2 billion. The event venues and restaurants are with the highest loss rates in the sector.
From a situation where the issue of food waste has not been addressed at all by the Knesset and influential people, Leket and BDO have managed to bring about a huge change that continues to this day and only Gaining momentum.
It is a pleasure and an honor to take part in such an important project, to be exposed to the startling data but also to witness this incredible initiative, and the developments, innovations and projections it brings.
