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JLM Food Rescuers
Creating together a sustainable and community-oriented urban food system
Us in Numbers:


1100
Tons of food
rescued


400
Volunteers


15,800
People visited our Community Food Center


9,800
Students learned about food sustainability
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1,200
Families receive food through our networks
Our Story
Welcome to The Food Rescuers, where we’re tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time—food waste. Every year, one-third of all food goes to waste.
We’re reclaiming this wasted potential and transforming it into a resilient, collaborative, and equitable urban food system. By uniting residents, businesses, municipal partners, and organizations, we’re developing innovative solutions that reduce waste, strengthen communities, and rebuild our relationship with food.
Join us in shaping a future where food is valued, shared, and never wasted.

Food Rescue: A City-Wide Solution
Ever wondered what happens to surplus produce at the Jerusalem wholesale market?
Since 2019, we’ve built a direct partnership with market vendors in the wholesale market of Jerusalem, allowing us to rescue and redistribute fresh, high-quality produce that would otherwise be discarded.
Our volunteer-led operations run daily, collecting food, sorting it, and distributing it via our refrigerated van and cars.
We’re also working with the municipality and policymakers to scale this model into the country’s first comprehensive food rescue program
Check out some of our distribution spots:
Community Based Food Security
We believe that food security isn’t just about giving food away—it’s about rebuilding relationships with food, community, and dignity.
That’s why we’re moving beyond traditional food aid. We developed a pop-up market model, run by and for the community. Here’s how they’re different:
✔ Anyone can participate, regardless of income, reducing stigma.
✔ Markets are led by local community members, turning recipients into decision-makers.
✔ Surplus food is a tool for empowerment, not just assistance - workshops and events run alongside the markets, teaching preservation, cooking, and sustainability.
In addition to 7 markets, we distribute rescued food through 20 grassroots networks and NGOs, reaching East Jerusalemites, asylum seekers, ultra-Orthodox single mothers, the Domari community, and homebound elderly.
We’re creating self-sustaining food networks, where food rescue is a community resource, not just a crisis solution.
Edible Education: Changing the Next Generation’s Relationship with Food
We believe schools should be at the heart of the food revolution.
Through our Edible Education program, we work with schools, teachers, and students to integrate food literacy, sustainability, and climate action into daily learning.
We aim to turn school kitchens and gardens into living classrooms, where students grow, cook, and share food—learning nutrition, sustainability, and leadership along the way.
We believe that children should learn about food by working with it, not just reading about it—so we’re training educators and developing models that can be scaled.
The Third:
A Sustainable Culinary Space
From workshops to tours, lectures to school programs, we're committed to engaging as many people as possible to share and connect more with our food, demonstrate creative cooking with ingredients readily available at home, teach preservation and fermentation techniques, and showcase the wholesale market through walking tours.
Whether we’ve received 1 ton of tomatoes, 300 kilos of pomegranates, or green garlic stalks - our kitchen is always experimenting to cook up whatever the market brings to us. With a dynamic plant-based menu that mirrors the ever-changing market, we create on-the-fly, adapting to the daily variations in market finds.
Join us for a culinary experience in our Community Food Center - come see how we turn rescued ingredients into unique and delicious meals, showcasing the creativity born from minimizing waste.
