If you’re committed to a life of sustainability, the water footprint of food coming to your plate becomes a natural concern. Are you aware that it takes approximately 15,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of beef? This metric qualifies bovine meat as the food item with the highest water footprint.
This so-called water footprint is the total volume of freshwater it takes to produce a food item, from the farm to your plate. Don’t get defensive yet about your role in the water footprint of that salad. Yes, final consumers are seldom responsible for the entirety of the water footprint, except when they grow what they eat. That humans knowingly drain the global water resources to grow food may be a false submission.
Nonetheless, our innocence, or ignorance of the water footprint of food does not undo its impact. Identifying the notorious food culprits and learning how to reduce their impact would be a step in the right direction.
What Is a Water Footprint?
Water footprint of food is a measure of the total volume of freshwater consumed, evaporated, or polluted to produce a food item. However, the said freshwater being measured falls into three categories, depending on its source.
- Blue water: This category covers freshwater flowing on the Earth’s crust (e.g. lakes, rivers and reservoirs) and that flowing through groundwater aquifers. Humans often make domestic use of this category of freshwater.
- Green water: This is freshwater that is juggled around in the water cycle. It includes water from rainfall that is absorbed by plants and then transmitted back to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.
- Grey water: We often let polluted water off after using it for some purpose, or it naturally percolates into the soil after being contaminated by agricultural chemicals. This freshwater category is not safe for domestic use, but can be recycled for non-potable purposes.
Water usage in food production should come up more in sustainability discussions to reveal the hidden water costs of diets. More awareness about this issue should encourage sustainable deployment of the planet’s scarce water resources. In response, consumers are likely to make sustainable diet water choices, and industries may become frugal or innovative with processes that require water. Similarly, government policies can incentivize sustainable water consumption practices in the food industry.
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Water-Intensive Foods and Their Regional Variations
While there are plant-based foods that have a high water footprint, the top food items on that list are animal products. Meat, dairy, chocolate, coffee, almonds and other edible nuts lead the pack of most water-intensive food items. In contrast, categories of foods with sustainable eating water use are pulses, fruits and vegetables.
Using a food water usage chart, it is safe to conclude that the vegan diet is better off as it has a relatively smaller water footprint. The wide chasm in the meat vs plant water footprint can be attributed to the feed required to rear livestock. Cattle, for example, are the source of milk, bovine meat, and their products. However, it takes a lot of water to cultivate the forage used in cattle feeding. Besides the water footprint of animal feed, livestock management in itself is water-intensive.
Whatever figures you see being quoted for the water footprint of food are mere averages. The actual volume required to grow a named food item varies depending on location and method. For example, climatic differences may result in water footprint variations in different locations. Besides climatic factors, soil properties in some locations may make irrigation necessary, while it may be unnecessary in other places.
Speaking of how the method of growing food may cause differences in water footprint, a study will reveal that this is even a thing. A 2010 study by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) found that it is possible to cut the water use efficiency of tomatoes from 300 to 4 liters per kilogram. The WUR research cultivated tomatoes in greenhouses, instead of in the open field, and found the food water usage chart for the controlled method dipped significantly.
Environmental Impacts of Food Water Footprint
If you are to narrow down on the freshwater demand of a single brewery in the state of California, maybe you’ll get to fathom the stress the food industry is putting on the global water supply. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that agriculture accounts for approximately 70 percent of global freshwater consumption. Besides the extraction stress of the water footprint of food, some water advocates are blowing the whistle on wastewater discharge.
The dots of the water footprint of food and climate change may not connect directly. However, several transgenerational evidence-based reports suggest that the freshwater being gulped by modern food-growing activities is swaying the balance of the global ecosystem.
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How Consumers Can Reduce Their Water Footprint
Enough of woe-crying. The way forward is to proffer methods of replenishing freshwater sources and cut the food industry’s consumption of the blue resource. Regulating industrial consumption of freshwater is subject to government policy enactment. However, every food consumer around the globe can contribute their little quota to reducing the global water footprint of food.
The following are some ways to reduce the water footprint of your food and household activities:
- Make it a point to consider the water footprint of food when planning your diet
- Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator instead of under a running faucet
- Reduce meat consumption as much as your diet can permit, and cut food waste
- Adopt sustainable watering techniques for your gardening activities,
Going forward, make it a point to recalibrate your perception about invisible water costs. Your dishwasher, washing machine and swimming pool may make a significant mark on your monthly bill. However, the water footprint of your food has a greater impact on global freshwater supplies. Mindful eating, particularly for water use efficiency, should become part of your ethos.
Every bite counts — for your health, the planet, and the water we all share.
