Agricultural fields in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Photo: PikiWiki Israel.

JNS.org – The United Nations ranked Israel 19th in its 2017 report on how well countries can feed their populations.

The “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” report ranked more than 180 countries. The report noted how Israel’s ability to feed its own people is largely dependent on imports of food, grain and energy sources required to sustain a large portion of its agricultural sector. Without this dependence, primarily on imports from the US, Israel would be ranked higher on the UN index.

The five most “food secure” countries, according to the report, are Ireland, the US, the UK, Singapore and Australia.

“Food security,” as measured in the report, pertains to the viability and accessibility of food for people in a given country, and the nation’s ability to prevent hunger on a mass scale.