Oct 18, 2022

Leket Israel Battles Food Insecurity With Unique Strategy

As inflation increases the threat of food insecurity, Federation beneficiary Leket Israel is delivering millions of pounds of agricultural products, prepared meals and other rescued food to hungry Israelis. As the country’s national food bank, Leket collects surplus food from hotels and caterers across the country and works with farmers to gather excess produce from fields. These food provisions offer crucial support to the agency’s network of more than 200 social service organizations, helping them collectively reduce food costs by tens of millions of dollars annually, while expanding the range of fresh food provided to their underserved clientele. This year, Leket increased its gleaning initiative by 20%, rescuing produce from 605 farms and packing houses. The agency also collects 8,000 hot meals a day that are redistributed to vulnerable Israelis in soup kitchens, centers for the elderly, homeless shelters and after-school programs for at-risk youth, among others. Your generosity to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation/UJA Campaign enables annual support of this critical institution.