In response to the extreme drought in California, the “L.A. Times” released an article detailing how water-intensive our everyday activities are. What tops the list? Meat consumption.
While the article explains that the average household uses about 98 gallons of water per day for industrial goods, such as paper or clothes, it also claims that “it takes more than 1,000 gallons of water a day per person to produce the food (and drinks) in the average U.S. diet.”
Some of the items topping the list:
- Beef: to produce 1 pound you need 1,799 gallons of water.
- Milk: one gallon of milk requires 880 gallons of water.
- Pork: it takes 576 gallons of water to produce one pound of pork.
How do plant-based foods stack up?
- Soybeans: one pound requires 216 gallons of water.
- Wheat: to produce one pound you need 132 gallons of water.
- Corn: one pound takes 108 gallons of water.
- Oranges: you need 13 gallons of water to produce one orange.
The proof is in the vegan pudding: one of the best ways to help protect our nation’s water is to leave wasteful animal products off our plates. To learn more about transitioning to an environmentally friendly vegan diet, visit ChooseVeg.com.
