Leket Israel works with more than 250
non-profit organizations (NPOs). They
make 22,000 sandwiches a week for disadvantaged
schoolchildren, harvest more
than 400 tons of fruit and vegetables a
month, and manage 4,000 volunteers per
month throughout Israel.

But it’s not enough.
“In the state of Israel, [about] 25 per
cent of Israelis are living below the poverty
line,” said Joseph Gitler, founder of Table
to Table, an organization that recently
merged with Leket: The Israel Food Bank,
to form Leket Israel.

“We could triple what we’re doing.
And we will… The problem is this issue
is very well hidden to most of the Israeli
public and the Diaspora,” said Gitler, who
was in Toronto recently to visit family and
meet with potential donors.

Leket Israel, which is funded by philanthropists
and charitable organizations, is a
national food bank that works with soup
kitchens and NPOs throughout Israel.

It is involved in food rescue, which
includes collecting leftover meals from
banquet halls, bar and bat mitzvahs and
weddings, as well as harvesting fruit and
vegetables that are slightly damaged and
would otherwise go unpicked. The food is
then delivered to NPOs throughout Israel.

“The issue of food waste is a richcountry
issue,” Gitler said.

“Western countries can afford to waste
food… Food is something that needs to be
dealt with quickly and effectively.”
This is why Gitler started Table
to Table about seven years ago in
Ra’anana, Israel, after learning some
poverty statistics.

“I was a total layperson. Laypeople,
when they hear the word poverty, our first
reaction is food,” he said.

Gitler took a few months off work
at his family’s software business to explore
the issue. What he found was that
within the many non-profit organizations
dealing with food, few were focused
on food rescue.

“What do we do with excess food?
With damaged food? No one was thinking
about it,” he said.

At first, the organization was just
Gitler and a refrigerated truck. Then
things took off.

“I didn’t expect to do anything national,
just local in Ra’anana, and it took off
so quickly,” he said.

As Gitler began to work with organizations
throughout Israel, he realized
that food rescue isn’t enough. This is
why Table to Table merged with Leket,
which was founded in 2007 to deal with
food insecurity.

“Organizations wanted to see more
from us. Our most important stakeholders
are the agencies we work with,”
Gitler said.

Now, along with food rescue, Leket
Israel also runs a centralized buying
program through which it orders food
in bulk, thus bringing down prices, and
then distributes it to food banks and
soup kitchens. Leket also helps educate
NPOs in food handling, safety and nutritional
content.

“Nutrition is a big issue. It’s not just
about filling bellies. Just like in Toronto,
healthy food costs more,” Gitler said.
“[Leket] brought in nutritionists who
work with organizations [and] try to make
sure they’re getting their caloric bang for
their buck.”

For more information about Leket Israel,
visit www.leket.org, e-mail info@
leket.org or call the Canadian line at 519-
753-0603.