Any modern, industrialized society will, for a number of systemic reasons, waste about 25% of the otherwise edible food it produces. This may be a result of distribution problems or market forces. For instance, factories that produce perishable food will simply throw out any food stock it has that is wwithin one week of its “best before” date. Similarly, due to price fluctuations, farmers often find it’s simply cheaper not to collect and sell unharvested produce (when the price of harvesting is higher than the market price). In both these cases, perfectly good food is allowed to go to waste while underprivileged people go hungry.

Israel is such a modern, relatively wealthy industrialized country. However, Israel also benefits from the awesome work done by Table to Table – an organization that, amongst other thins, gets volunteers to spend an hour or two picking produce that would otherwise be allowed to rot. This produce is then redistributed to various food banks around the country. In this respect, Israel is a world leader in reducing the waste endemic to modern food production and distribution.

Table to Table is organizing a 24-hour harvest session prior to the Holiday of Shavuot. Jewlicious has organized a bus to take volunteers from Jerusalem to the field to be harvested. Now all we need is for you to register so that we can fill the bus and spend the night getting to know each other while doing a good deed and, you know, picking produce. The bus will be leaving from Jerusalem on May 20th at 11 pm, and will return at 4am.

To register and get departure details you MUST contact Table to Table’s assistant director Daniel Schwartz at either 02-563-1744 or at 052-420-1384. You may also call Ilana for further details at 052-850-6269 or email her at [email protected]. Those of you who volunteer will benefit from doing a good deed AND you will [not] get to meet and hang out with Jewlicious blogger Michael who as of this writing, doesn’t know that he’s going and will in all likelihood be cursing my name the entire time he’s picking produce is not amused. Trust me, there’s no end to the hilarity that will ensue.

So? Shall we see you there?

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About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

7 Comments

  • I’d love to take part. Is anyone coming from Tel Aviv? How about organizing a carpool?

  • This is very cool! I wish that i was in the right part of the planet!

  • This is so very in tune with this week’s parsha, which mentions that you are not supposed to glean to the edge of your fields. That is so there is some left for the poor.

    The parsha is always in tune with what is happening in real-time. That is a standard Orthodox religious view.

    Sounds like a total barrel of laughs. A wonderful night. Anybody who doesn’t go is elsewhere, or crazy.

  • Very impressive, ck. I hope you get a good turnout. You should advertise this in a couple of the Anglo-dominated synagogues in J-M.

  • I would, but I am currently in Los Angeles and Michael keeps re-writing my Post…