Will adopting a vegan diet save the water?

[GliderGuider]

Actually, no. Most of the agricultural water in the USA goes to grain, vegetable and fruit crops. 38 times more is used to grow crops than to grow livestock.



The biggest water users are crop irrigation and power generation. If all 319 million Americans stopped eating meat it would save less than 1% of the nations's water supply. Water use isn't a scientifically supportable reason to go vegan.

Note that 3% of water withdrawals are for aquaculture, which is 3 times the amount used for livestock. Fortunately, the USGS circular says this about aquaculture: "Most of the surface-water withdrawals occurred at facilities that operated flowthrough raceways, which returned the water to the source directly after use."

The problem is not too many animals - or rather, the problem is too many of one particular kind of two-legged animal, using too much electricity...

Data here: http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/

[TeeYiYi]

1. k+r...

...for an interesting and informative graphic.

TYY

[lame54]

2. Yes, but it will lead to mass murders...

[KittyWampus]

3. How much of the grain goes to feed cows, pigs, chickens?

[Travis_0004]

7. My thoughts exactly

Some livestock graze on land, and that land is never watered, so the livestock uses very little water.

A lot of grain is used to feed livestock though.

A lot of places dont have a drought though. If my beef in Ohio uses more water that doesnt hurt or help somebody in California.

[Cal Carpenter]

15. Yep. This skews the chart for sure

Although I still don't think a vegan diet will 'save the water'. It's not that simple.

[olddots]

4. I thought the problem was

too many Charleton Heston movies

[handmade34]

5. not a good and true analysis

it is much more complicated than that...

taken from an earlier post...

the majority of that "mile upon mile of industrial agriculture" is grain, growing primarily to feed livestock


"About 349 million acres in the U.S. are planted for crops. This is the equivalent of about four states the size of Montana. Four crops -- feeder corn (80 million acres), soybeans (75 million acres), alfalfa hay (61 million acres) and wheat (62 million acres) -- make up 80 percent of total crop acreage. All but wheat are primarily used to feed livestock.

The amount of land used to produce all vegetables in the U.S. is less than 3 million acres"

National Geographic "Water Conservation Tips"

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-conservation-tips/

•The water it takes to produce the average American diet alone—approximately 1,000 gallons per person per day—is more than the global average water footprint of 900 gallons per person per day for diet, household use, transportation, energy, and the consumption of material goods.
•That quarter pounder is worth more than 30 average American showers. One of the easiest ways to slim your water footprint is to eat less meat and dairy. Another way is to choose grass-fed, rather than grain-fed, since it can take a lot of water to grow corn and other feed crops.
•A serving of poultry costs about 90 gallons of water to produce. There are also water costs embedded in the transportation of food (gasoline costs water to make). So, consider how far your food has to travel, and buy local to cut your water footprint.
•Pork costs water to produce, and traditional pork production—to make your sausage, bacon, and chops—has also been the cause of some water pollution, as pig waste runs into local water sources.
•On average, a vegan, a person who doesn't eat meat or dairy, indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet.

[GliderGuider]

8. Good point.

About 60% of the grain grown in the USA goes to feed animals, so about half the irrigation water use ought to be attributed to livestock. Thanks for catching that aspect of it. As you might be able to tell, I'm not a farmer, so I don't think in these terms very much.

Now, about that electricity, and those 7.3 billion chewing, swallowing people...

[handmade34]

13. so...

let me say that I agree that we are burdening the planet with an overpopulation of humans... I am not willing, at this point, to off myself as a solution (but I am committed to not living past the time I am using excessive resources, in relation to my usefulness, to be kept alive)

some thoughts...

-bringing people out of poverty and education are proven to be good policy to help keep population down
-we, especially in the U.S. and developed Countries must rethink the way we live in relation to water and energy...

new technology allows for irrigation that uses vastly less water

example of drip irrigation, much more tech-savvy than old-school methods that flood fields with water. Weimer can irrigate 900 acres of onions with the push of a button on his smartphone. The plastic piping is so precise, the farm uses 30 percent less water than it did before this system was installed. It cost about $4,000 per acre, and last year, one of the driest on record in Colorado, it paid off.

more energy from solar and wind... we need to learn how to be less car dependent... more mass transit


cutting meat consumption is ABSOLUTELY a good way to preserve water... both in use of water and cutting down water pollution

I advocate everyone consider their diet and how it affects the planet... I abhor when people retort to an article about the benefits of a vegan/vegetarian diet with "you can't tell me what to do/you will have to pry this steak out of my dead cold hand" or some such nonsense... I do not expect everyone to just cut out eating meat or change in a drastic way... I just would like to think that, especially, on a seemingly relatively liberal site as this people would respond with something more like... "I really love eating meat but I understand the part that livestock production plays in the health of the environment and I will try to be more mindful of my footprint"

There are MANY small things we can all do everyday that would add up to make a big difference...

We are all in this together

I don't eat meat, nor dairy as a rule, but I don't expect everyone around me to do the same... I try very hard to consider every action I take and how it affects those around me and the planet... I use a clothesline when at home, I carry reusable bags, when out, I carry a coffee mug, I try not to buy things with excessive packaging... I travel for a living so my footprint in that respect is large but I try to compensate for it in other ways... when home I drive very little... I am always open to considering other ways I can live a more cooperative way

I LOVE Water... my guilty pleasure is long showers and I keep the water heater at home small so I can't exploit the hot showers

water is so very important and I am just flummoxed that people aren't up in arms about the abuse of our water supply and sources... (I keep my house in Vermont because I have plenty of clean, delicious, free, fresh spring water- well that and other reasons )

[GliderGuider]

14. Regarding those excess humans

How overpopulated do you think the planet is? Here's my take on it:



I think there are about 100 times too many people at the moment. And ever since agriculture got really rolling, we've been dragging 3 times our weight in domesticated animals up that mountain with us. The problem has existed for literally millennia, but it's only now becoming visible, here inside our cosy little anthropocentric cocoon.

Along the way, we've done in virtually ALL of the world's wild fauna.



Our sustainability problem is far too big for a diet modification to make any difference at this point, which is perhaps what I should have said in the first place.

I wrote this assessment two years ago: No really, how sustainable are we? In it I look at the question of sustainability six different ways. I ended up realizing that a truly sustainable world population would probably be no more than 35 million people give or take - but only if they were living as hunter-gatherers.

Doing the math on our predicament over the last decade has been a grim experience.

[handmade34]

16. I'm very impressed!

you did good... why aren't you in charge?

I don't have numbers for an optimum population... just much less (not very scientific of me I suppose) I consider the plight only from this day forward and know that the best way towards change is educated people (critical thinking) and collective action (Big Government)

...and we have half the population that wants less government

for now... I suggest all learn to grow gardens, work together and play a lot

(p.s. are you a pilot... my pilot brother took me up in a glider and WOW!)

[GliderGuider]

17. Thanks! Yes, I'm a glider pilot

I'm inactive at the moment, but spent a number of years flying solo cross-country, taking up passengers and generally horsing around in the sky. I never had the urge to fly powered aircraft, but I got utterly hooked on gliding from my first flight in 1967. No engine - my first try at fuel conservation...

[DetlefK]

6. Actually it would make a difference.

Let's say it takes 5 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. (Or whatever the ratio is.)
- You can save the water that you feed to the animal. Instead of eating 1 pound of meat, you can eat 1 pound of grain/vegetables.
- You can save the water the animals drinks.
- You can save the CO2-emissions it takes to transport the grains to the animal.

[GliderGuider]

9. Yes, I did finally get that little point - see above. nt

[Skidmore]

10. Regardless, humans need water for survival.

We don't need fracking.

[GliderGuider]

11. What we don't need

Is so many humans. Oh well, all in good time, I guess.

[Skidmore]

12. Well, not to worry. Republican

austerity policies will ensure that many of us die off sooner than later.