How can we eat well and conserve water?

[locks]

Local news again telling us it requires one gallon of water to produce one California almond, almonds take 10% of California's water, and acreage of orchards has doubled in 20 years. I love almonds, they are delicious and nutritious, and I add them to a lot of dishes.

Walnuts and hazelnuts take less water to produce. But it takes 122 gallons of water to produce one pound of milk and 1,847 gallons of water for one pound of beef.

I remember well the years we boycotted California lettuce and grapes for very good reasons. Should we be as concerned about the drought as we were about migrant workers? Many people would lose their jobs and livelihood and the whole nation would suffer without the food from California's valleys.

Climate change is real and soon we may not have choices.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Grow your own?

Can you grow almonds wherever you live? I know walnuts and hazelnuts can be grown here in SW Ohio, and we've got plenty of water. Iirc, climate change is supposed to dump even more on us over time. We get flooding, not droughts. I've got a mulberry tree, two cherry trees, a bush cherry, raspberry bushes, and two apple trees and a third being grafted to order that I'll get next year to plant. Raspberries alone are now producing enough that we'll be canning 50+ 8 oz jars of black raspberry jelly next year. (We were doing jam, but I got a food mill that removes the seeds, which makes it a lot easier to eat, although it cuts total jars of product in half.) Bought some red currant jelly to try, to see if I want to buy a red currant bush to plant as well. I think being more of a 'locovore' is in the cards for a lot of us in the future, and we'll probably go back to eating certain foods only in 'season', or preserved in some way.

And they've made great strides on lab-grown beef tissue. I'm guessing it doesn't take nearly as much water to grow it in vats as it does to grow it on cattle.

[grasswire]

3. oh that sounds just awful

lab grown beef tissue

Ohhhhhh!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Really? I love the sound of it.

No more gristle, no more connective tissue, no more rubbery veins, just pure, tender muscle tissue.

Far less cattle being raised also mean less methane from cow gassiness, less soil erosion from heavy hooves chewing through the turf, and far fewer animals being killed.

(Edit: and Far fewer antibiotics in animal feed helping breed antibiotic resistant superbugs to kill humans.)

[hippywife]

2. Well, fortunately these days...

Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2015, 09:59 AM - Edit history (1)

I can't afford to purchase many nuts of any kind, and haven't been for some time, so not buying them won't be an issue here at all.

There are only two of us and we don't use a lot of milk, sometimes struggling to get through even a half gallon and many times buying it by the quart just to have some in the house for making breakfasts, but don't tend to use much, if any, the rest of the day. I used to drink my coffee with just milk, but when I needed to do fasting labs about four months or so ago, and really, really wanted my morning coffee, ended up just drinking it black. Decided I really didn't mind it that way so have been drinking it black ever since .

I think you're absolutely right that we're not going to have choices on many foods, and sooner rather than later as the drought in California continues. Access to water for all of the large commercial farms is already causing plenty of problems for the small farmers out there and driving up the cost of a lot of produce. Definitely seeing it in the early spring produce prices at the grocery, still waiting to see what local prices are going to be like as we've had more than a couple of years of drought out here on the plains, too.

Major adjustments are definitely ahead, both in the short and long term.

Edited a little for length. My apologies for being so wordy last night.

[chernabog]

5. The answer is pretty simple

Stop consuming animal products.

[locks]

6. Thanks for the responses

I hope more people will raise their own food; the community gardeners are doing a great job. I love milk but could certainly cut down, same with beef as I don't eat a lot of meat. But the problem is that we need some changes which will be supported by a large percentage of the population.

Many people still smoke, although we probably can't do much more to convince them they're killing themselves. We don't even seem able to fight the huge junk food corporations with all their money and lobbying. We always run into the "nanny state" arguments and the "I should be able to eat anything I want at any time."

It may not be in my lifetime but I do believe the people like DUers who truly care about their health and their neighbors will show the world how we can conserve our precious resources and still eat well.

[hippywife]

7. Except where very dire environmental issues

such as the one in the OP are concerned, I may not go so far as making the nanny state argument, but I'm definitely going to be one of those people who would just as soon not have you or anyone else even think about attempting to dictate what I'm 'permitted' to consume.