Leket Israel’s Nutrition for Life Workshops

Proper nutrition has a direct impact on family health. Most families in lower socioeconomic strata have diets that do not satisfy their daily nutritional needs with many skipping meals due to economic limitations. These families purchase processed food, filled with preservatives and damaging ingredients simply due to the misconception that it is cheaper.

Leket Israel conducts professional nutrition workshops, each consisting of four sessions, led by specialized dietitians, throughout the year, across the country. This is part of Leket’s growing effort to provide disadvantaged populations with ample knowledge, resources and support to maintain proper nutrition on a limited budget. Most workshop participants are referred to Leket by the Welfare Ministry, WIZO, Na’amat and various other non-profit organizations.

At the workshops, participants learn several core principles of nutrition: to make healthy life choices, to compare the nutritional value between different products, to plan a varied diet, to instill a positive family atmosphere with regards to healthy living and food, and to purchase vitamin-filled food on a limited budget.

Leket Israel is currently working with 18 dietitians, each responsible for different geographical areas. Workshops are offered in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and Amharic, according to the specific needs of the population at hand. In recent years, the number of workshops has increased significantly expanding Leket’s reach.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the workshops and examine their impact, Leket Israel conducts surveys with workshop participants upon the completion of each series. The survey’s findings illustrate that workshop participants improve their habits and make use of the tools that they have acquired: 52% answered that they increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables and 70% reported that they now eat a regular breakfast.

Leket Israel is on track to meet its 2017 goal to deliver 60 workshops by years end. Much more than just providing food, Leket’s aim is to build nutritional awareness and tackle the problem of food insecurity at its roots.