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"Most water is used for farming" And most farming is for animal feed which is wasteful compared to consuming far less meat. We could reduce water usage signifi

by jshen 13y ago

"Most water is used for farming" And most farming is for animal feed which is wasteful compared to consuming far less meat. We could reduce water usage significantly by reducing meat consumption. We should probably do this.

vacri 13y ago
In Australia, the two greatest waterhogs - the ones causing strain on water supply - are cotton and rice. We have a sizeable beef industry. That beef is not eating cotton and rice.
- jshen 13y ago
  Are you importing feed?
  - vacri 13y ago
    No, but we do a lot of grazing. The internals of Australia isn't all desert.
    - jshen 13y ago
      The vast majority of beef production does not use grazing.
      - vacri 13y ago
        You might want to stick a 'solely' in there, because it's plain not true that the majority of beef production does not use grazing. Most beef production raises on grass and 'finishes' on grain, and there are lots of different grades. Some beef is raised on little but grain. It varies heavily on location and climate.
        jshen 13y ago
        My main point stands. If you want to dramatically reduce your impact on water use, consume less meat.
        vacri 13y ago
        And wear less cotton, eat less wheat, sugar, fruits and rice.
        jshen 13y ago
        You are arguing for the sake of arguing, and making bad arguments as a result. If you eat vegetables instead of beef you will save a lot of water. You will get the same amount of food, with far less water use.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
- jshen 13y ago
  "The Agriculture industry consumed 6,987 GL of water in 2009–10. Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming had the highest consumption within the Agriculture industry," http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1301.0~2012~Main%20Features~Water~279 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/... Also http://www.grub.com.au/News/FoodFacts/post/2013/02/06/In-Australia-most-cattle-are-grass-fed-but-most-beef-is-grain-fed.aspx http://www.grub.com.au/News/FoodFacts/post/2013/02/06/In-Aus...
  - vacri 13y ago
    Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming Unsurprisingly, when you concatenate these three things together, including both wool farming and wheat, two of the country's major exports, it does rise higher than cotton farming. It's like saying if you put the US, Mexico, and Brazil together, they're bigger than Canada. Also, from your second link: To understand what’s going on we need to look more closely at the numbers.There are currently about 720,000 head of cattle in Australia’s feedlots, out of a national cattle herd of 28.5 million. This represents about 3%. So, however you look at it, the vast majority of cattle in Australia are grass-fed. <- This is the finishing I was talking about earlier, and the statement that the vast majority of beef doesn't use grazing is wrong.

by jshen 13y ago

vacri 13y ago

In Australia, the two greatest waterhogs - the ones causing strain on water supply - are cotton and rice. We have a sizeable beef industry. That beef is not eating cotton and rice.

jshen 13y ago
Are you importing feed?
- vacri 13y ago
  No, but we do a lot of grazing. The internals of Australia isn't all desert.
  - jshen 13y ago
    The vast majority of beef production does not use grazing.
    - vacri 13y ago
      You might want to stick a 'solely' in there, because it's plain not true that the majority of beef production does not use grazing. Most beef production raises on grass and 'finishes' on grain, and there are lots of different grades. Some beef is raised on little but grain. It varies heavily on location and climate.
      - jshen 13y ago
        My main point stands. If you want to dramatically reduce your impact on water use, consume less meat.
        vacri 13y ago
        And wear less cotton, eat less wheat, sugar, fruits and rice.
        jshen 13y ago
        You are arguing for the sake of arguing, and making bad arguments as a result. If you eat vegetables instead of beef you will save a lot of water. You will get the same amount of food, with far less water use.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
jshen 13y ago
"The Agriculture industry consumed 6,987 GL of water in 2009–10. Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming had the highest consumption within the Agriculture industry," http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1301.0~2012~Main%20Features~Water~279 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/... Also http://www.grub.com.au/News/FoodFacts/post/2013/02/06/In-Australia-most-cattle-are-grass-fed-but-most-beef-is-grain-fed.aspx http://www.grub.com.au/News/FoodFacts/post/2013/02/06/In-Aus...
- vacri 13y ago
  Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming Unsurprisingly, when you concatenate these three things together, including both wool farming and wheat, two of the country's major exports, it does rise higher than cotton farming. It's like saying if you put the US, Mexico, and Brazil together, they're bigger than Canada. Also, from your second link: To understand what’s going on we need to look more closely at the numbers.There are currently about 720,000 head of cattle in Australia’s feedlots, out of a national cattle herd of 28.5 million. This represents about 3%. So, however you look at it, the vast majority of cattle in Australia are grass-fed. <- This is the finishing I was talking about earlier, and the statement that the vast majority of beef doesn't use grazing is wrong.