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Almonds are a very water-intensive crop. We grow a huge amount of almonds here in California. (Most of them are exported.) See http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-
by BryantD 12y ago
Almonds are a very water-intensive crop. We grow a huge amount of almonds here in California. (Most of them are exported.) See http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30052290 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30052290 for one writeup.
Now, they're also a very lucrative crop, so not growing almonds would certainly affect the state's economy. But...
- bashinator 12y agoSpecifically, one almond takes about one gallon of water to produce.
- jaryd 12y agoHate to be that guy but do you have a source for this? That's pretty incredible and I'd want to read more. nevermind: the parent article pretty much covers it
- bashinator 12y agoSure, here's some mainstream reporting of it http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-califo... And here's the original research. http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report47-WaterFootprin...
- jaryd 12y agoWow--thanks! The "How Thirsty Is Your Food" infographic from the first link is really incredible. Definitely makes me think differently about eating handfuls of almonds, or a huge amount of broc with dinner.
- CWuestefeld 12y agoI agree that's really interesting. But it would be better to normalize to serving size. It doesn't seem fair to compare one almond or one grape to a whole head of broccoli.
- kaybe 12y agoWater use is often seen as something negative. When the crops come from a wet place anyway, it shouldn't be a problem I think.