50,000 tons of Israeli produce may be destroyed due to Ukraine War

Israeli farmers are destroying thousands of tons of fresh vegetables as produce exports to Russia and Ukraine have ground to a halt due to the ongoing war.

 Carrots, celery, potatoes, radishes, and more: Up to 50,000 tons of agricultural products are rotting in warehouses or facing certain destruction. Payments for goods have also stopped on account of the plummeting value of the ruble and sanctions in response to the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The situation has resulted in a crisis for hundreds of Israeli farmers, with some having been forced to destroy entire crops after finding no alternative places to sell their produce.

 Reuven Nir is CEO of the Mefalsim-Kfar Aza farming cooperative, which grows roots vegetables such as potatoes and carrots over an area of 14,000 dunams (roughly 3,500 acres) in the Gaza envelope.

“At the moment we have 3,000 tons of carrots in the ground designated for Russia,” Nir told The Media Line, adding that they will begin harvesting the vegetables next week and hope to find a new buyer by then.

Despite the difficulties, Nir is hopeful that exports to Russia will proceed as originally planned.

 “I hope that we won’t get burned,” he lamented. “We’re putting things in cold storage and waiting for the situation to become clearer so that we can know what to do.”

In a bid to avert the large-scale destruction of fresh produce, food rescue organization Leket, Israel’s national food bank, has launched an urgent appeal to distribute surplus crops to Israelis in need.

“What we’ve heard so far is that 50,000 tons [of produce] are at risk,” Gitler said. “It doesn’t mean that people are actively destroying it yet. Everyone is trying to find alternative sources.”

Leket hopes to be able to save 5,000 to 10,000 tons of vegetables with the proceeds raised.

“Because the numbers are so large, we will actually be taking a portion of these vegetables and turning them into soups to give us extra time to distribute them,” he said. “These soups are high-quality and primarily going to the homebound elderly so it’s really an outstanding way to extend the shelf life of these crops, which are higher-quality than what Leket normally has.”