According
to The
New York Times, California governor Jerry Brown recently “ordered
mandatory water use reductions for the first time in California’s history,
saying the state’s four-year drought had reached near-crisis proportions after
a winter that brought record-low snowfalls.
This
should come as no surprise. California’s brutal drought has been making
headlines for months, with critics citing everything from individual household
usage to almonds as part of the problem.
But
few of these reports highlight the serious water footprint of the state’s meat,
dairy, and egg production, and the new regulations do little to limit water use
by the state’s largest water waster: big agriculture.
Factory
farming (and raising animals for food in general) uses up an enormous amount of
water. From direct consumption of water by the animals to watering the crops
used to feed farmed animals, animal agriculture is an incredibly thirsty
industry.
In
fact, production of meat and dairy requires about 100 times more water than
production of the same amount of plant-based protein, according to The American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition.
Consider
this:
- It takes a staggering 2,500 gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef.
- It takes 660 gallons of water to produce one hamburger. (That’s enough water for two months’ worth of showers!)
- A whopping 47 percent of California’s water footprint is linked to meat and dairy products, according to The Pacific Institute.
- Up to 15 percent of California’s water is used to grow alfalfa, much of which is exported to feed farmed animal in other countries.