The October 7 attacks and the war that followed has brought many parts of a fractured Israeli society to light. Among them is our lack of food security and the role the government plays in it. We asked culinary historian and local foodways expert Uri Mayer-Chissick to dive into this topic. Over the next several weeks, we will share five opinion pieces by him in this series. Read the first installment here.
When the war reached its second week in mid-October, it became clear that we cannot take local fruit and vegetables for granted. Many of Israel’s agricultural areas have become war zones. Sixty percent of Israel’s potatoes, carrots, wheat, and tomatoes, for instance, are cultivated in the area near Gaza. And Israeli agriculture relies heavily on migrant workers from places like Thailand, most of whom went home when the war broke out (though most have since returned to Israel). The effects of this labor shortage and the inaccessibility of farmland are expected to be felt sharply in 6 to 12 months.
Shortly after the war started, lots of Israelis were swept up in the spirit of volunteering. All over Israel, citizens volunteered to harvest, plant, sow, and collect eggs. This temporary aid was helpful, yet agriculture requires a trained, stable workforce. The Ministry of Agriculture has not been there to fill the void.
In fact, in the last 40 years, Israel has been systematically neglecting its agricultural industry. Here are just a few examples:
1. In 1980, 35 percent of the wheat consumed in Israel was local. By 2021, it was only 7 percent.
2. Since the 1980s, the number of Israeli farms declined by 70 percent, from about 40,000 to 12,000 in 2020. Agriculture does not appeal to the younger generation, and most of Israel’s farmers are over 60, so an entire generation of farmers is lost. There are social factors here, too, of course, with the rising appeal of high-tech jobs. The average calorie intake in Israel is stable, but the share of vegetables and fruit in our diets is shrinking: from 382 kg per capita in 2011 to 302 in 2020, a 20 percent decline, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
Agriculture is just like water and electricity; it’s a crucial infrastructure for normal life, and should be treated as such.
Local produce is expensive for two reasons. One is centralization: retail chains control more than half of the vegetable and fruit market. They determine the prices of both local and imported produce, which explains why opening the market does not make prices drop. The second is insufficient government support. In Spain, for example, EU subsidies help make olive oil affordable. This is based on a perception of agriculture as a strategic asset — a unified agricultural policy which sets targets and provides support accordingly.
Additional examples:
India: The war in the Ukraine caused a worldwide hike in wheat prices. If Indian merchants were to take advantage of this situation and sell their wheat in the international market, wheat could have become inaccessible to Indians. To prevent a scenario in which India exported wheat while its citizens starved, India closed wheat exports.
Brazil: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government encourages direct sale, allowing farmers to set their stalls in prestigious areas of certain cities, on condition that they sell their surplus in poorer communities on the weekends.
What should we do?
– Use budgets and incentives to make agricultural work appealing to young people. Portraying agriculture as a social mission may also help. We should start in schools: imagine a teacher talking to young students about the importance and satisfaction in being a farmer.
– Promote organic farming with subsidies and funding.
– Since the beginning of the war, we have seen encouraging signs, such as scholarships for students who are willing to work in agriculture. Still, the state must invest in a long-term recovery plan. In 2020, the direct support for farmers was about 2 billion NIS (about 532 million USD), which was 2.5 percent of farm revenues. In OECD countries, it amounts to 11.7 percent of revenues. In Israel, that would mean an additional 15 billion NIS (4 billion USD).
– Prioritize local produce. Importing can be a wonderful solution, but only as long as there is a stable local infrastructure. This is vital in coping with emergency situations and assuring our food supply is not jeopardized, for example in the event of war or a crisis with Turkey. Less local produce means a greater dependence on imports.
In short, the state should act as a stakeholder and treat agriculture as a strategic asset. A long-neglected infrastructure cannot be expected to successfully operate during war.The Ministry of Agriculture’s
Response
The Ministry of Agriculture initiated and led programs to solve the labor shortage, such as encouraging the return of migrant workers (about 80 percent came back), setting higher quotas, contracting Israeli workers, and helping fund logistic costs for volunteer organizations. The ministry’s activities during the war are listed here.