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Interestingly, I saw a video recently that argued that the majority of water consumption for animal products comes from green water (aka direct precipitation) a
by lhorie 6y ago
Interestingly, I saw a video recently that argued that the majority of water consumption for animal products comes from green water (aka direct precipitation) and the majority of that water is released back to the ground in the form of urination, which makes it less taxing to aquifer systems than crops like avocados and almonds, which are extremely water intensive and primarily consume groundwater drawn from subterranean water systems by artificial irrigation systems.
- jacobolus 6y agoIf water used in agriculture – including water sucked out of aquifers from wells – were appropriately priced, (a) water-intensive crops would move to places where water was more abundant, and (b) ways would be found to reduce water use. Growing e.g. alfalfa, rice, cotton, or almonds in California (not to mention beef/dairy production) happens partly because water for agriculture is artificially cheap, not reflecting its true costs.
- njarboe 5y agoI agree with you about alfalfa, rice, and cotton, but the central valley has the best conditions in the world for growing almonds. About 50% of the worlds production comes from there.
- jacobolus 5y agoIn that case, almond farmers should still pay closer to the true cost of the water. This would likely slightly raise world almond prices but it would encourage farmers to find ways to reduce water use, without fundamentally compromising the industry.
- cataphract 5y agoI think you're referring to this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGG-A80Tl5g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGG-A80Tl5g Youtube suggested it to me recently as well.
- ufo 5y agoIIRC most of the water used to produce meat goes into producing the animal feed.
- xyzzyz 5y agoYes, and most animal feed is human inedible stuff like grass and corn stalks. The water used to produce these is rain water that would fall and drain or evaporate from there either way.
- cortesoft 5y agoThat isn’t true. Most animal feed is grown with irrigated water.
- bluGill 5y agoNo,most is grown in the Midwest where there is no irrigation and shipped out. There is irrigation, but it's isn't most animal feed overall.
- adrianN 5y agoUnfortunately at least some animal feed is human edible soybeans grown where just a short while ago a rainforest stood.
- sparrc 5y agois there a source for that besides youtube? all the scientists, UN, environmental orgs, etc. seem to be in agreement that animal products use the most water.
- Fnoord 5y agoAnimals poo and pee. Their feces increases nitrogen levels in ground. Which, if done en masse, is terrible for the soil. Look at the problems The Netherlands is facing. Veluwe is deteriorating.