“ Life on Earth began in water, and has always depended for its very existence on water,” states author John Robbins in his anniversary edition of The Food Revolution. “Yet most of us are so used to having this precious resource at our fingertips that we have come to take it for granted. Sadly, we are fast approaching the time when we may be forced to learn the inestimable value of this natural treasure the hard way. Our supply of good water is disappearing at an alarming rate.”
Robbins notes that all across the United States, but particularly in the western states, concerned consumers are striving to conserve water in every possible way, but he then shocks readers with this bold statement, “These measures are prudent and helpful, but all of them combined don’t save anywhere near the amount of water you would save by shifting toward a plant-based diet.”
To document the seriousness of the scarcity of good water, he cites a report released in 2000 by the World Commission on Water, which predicted that due to rising populations and resulting increased water use will ‘impose intolerable stresses on the environment, leading not only to a loss of biodiversity, but also to a vicious circle in which the stresses on the ecosystem [will] no longer provide the services [necessary] for plants and people.’
Then to demonstrate how much water is required to produce a pound of meat versus a pound of plant crops, Robbins lists research from studies in Michigan and California:
“Water required to produce 1 pound of U.S. beef, according to Dr. Georg Borgstrom, Chairman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University: 2,500 gallons.
“Water required to produce 1 pound of California beef, according to the Water Education Foundation: 2, 464 gallons.
“Water required to produce 1 pound of California foods, according to Soil and Water specialists, University of California Agricultural Extension, working with livestock farm advisors: a pound of lettuce—23 gallons, tomatoes—23 gallons, potatoes—24 gallons, wheat—25 gallons, carrots—33 gallons, apples—49 gallons, chicken—815 gallons, pork—1,630 gallons, and 1 pound of beef—5,214 gallons.”
These dramatic comparisons leave no doubt what tremendous water usage differences that our seemingly insatiable appetite for meat creates as compared with a plant-based diet. Robbins says the reason for the great differences between a pound of beef versus a pound of chicken or pork is “the pork and poultry industries are generally concentrated in areas where grain fields need little or no irrigation, and because pigs and chickens are more efficient at converting feed to flesh than are cattle.”
To further emphasize our love affair with beef, Robbins quotes Marc Reisner, author of Cadillac Desert, ‘In California, the single biggest consumer of water is not Los Angeles. It’s not the oil and chemicals or defense industries. Nor is it the fields of grapes and tomatoes. It’s irrigated pasture: grass grown in a near-desert climate for cows…. The West’s water crisis—and many of its environmental problems as well—can be summed up, implausible as this may seem, in a single word: livestock.” Even stronger is a quote in a 1999 Audubon report which states, “Nearly half the water consumed in this country is used for livestock, mostly cattle.”
Robbins concludes that our necessary change of food choices from meat to plant-based is clear, lest we drain our good water supplies past the point of no return. “It’s even more important that we don’t underestimate water usage,” he concludes, “There are alternatives to oil, such as hydrogen, solar, wind, and other resources, but there aren’t alternatives to water. If we run out, we can’t grow food or maintain other essential life functions.”
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