How much water is used to produce your food
It is amazing just how much water is used to produce food. Vegetarians conserve more water through dietary choices than those of us that eat meat because it takes more water to grow a cow than to grow corn, for example. With the onset of increasing water scarcity, rainwater harvesting for livestock is going to become much more important. Have you ever checked your Water Footprint?
Check your water consumption here, with the Water Footprint Calculator.
See the table below for a list of foods, and the amount of water needed to produce each serving (data from Bottled Water Association, EPA, and USGS).
Water use for a single serving
Totals for a diet containing meat (per day)
You probably think that there is no way that a lettuce can use 6 gallons (27 litres) of water to produce a single serving, but the water usage is it's TOTAL water footprint, which includes the water useage for:
- The production of the seed
- The water used in the production of the machinery used to plant, harvest and process it
- The daily washing of the machinery
- The watering of the crop
- The actual processing of the lettuce
- The washing of the lettuce at home.
Most of the above water footprint is never considered, but it all adds up. Water from rainwater harvesting could replace 1., 2., 3., and 4., above, vastly reducing the amount of mains water required.
Allotment Vegetable Growing
Allotment diaries, photographs, advice about growing vegetables, fruits and herbs with a forum for chatting on the plot.
