As war rages on in Ukraine, farmers in Israel face the effects, forced to destroy thousands of tons of produce as regular export shipments to Ukraine and Russia have ceased.
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Some producers have had to wipe out entire crops, resulting in crisis, as they cannot put food on their own table.
"It's pretty serious... there are hundreds and hundreds of Israeli farmers who've built businesses over the years exporting to Russia and Ukraine, and because of this situation ... all those exports have ground to a halt," Joseph Gitler, the founder of Israel's national food bank Leket said.
He noted these include primarily crops that Russians are "famous for" but cannot grow themselves during the harsh winter.
"Israelis have made a market, because of the great weather and the great bounty, of growing crops specifically for those markets during the winter months," Gitler said.
He also explained that while the solution may appear simple – to just "sell the crops somewhere else" – it is far more complex in actuality.
"The real problem is that in general, we produce 30-40% more produce than we need in the world, so when situations like this arise, it's not always so easy to find alternative customers."
Nevertheless, some farmers are storing their crops with the hopes of being able to sell them to their regular customers in several months.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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