Shower or Hamburger?Water Required to produce one pound of U.S.beef: over 5,000 gallons (20,000 liters)
Water Required to produce one pound of:
1 pound of lettuce 23 gallons/92 liters
1 pound of tomatoes 23 gallons/92 liters
1 pound of potatoes 24 gallons/96 liters
1 pound of wheat 25 gallons/100 liters
1 pound of carrots 33 gallons/132 liters
1 pound of apples 49 gallons/196 liters
1 pound of chicken 815 gallons/3260 liters
1 pound of pork 1,630 gallons/6520 liters
1 pound of beef 5,214 gallons/20428 liters
Putting water use info into perspective -
Water Required to produce one pound of:
1 pound of lettuce 23 gallons/92 liters
1 pound of tomatoes 23 gallons/92 liters
1 pound of potatoes 24 gallons/96 liters
1 pound of wheat 25 gallons/100 liters
1 pound of carrots 33 gallons/132 liters
1 pound of apples 49 gallons/196 liters
1 pound of chicken 815 gallons/3260 liters
1 pound of pork 1,630 gallons/6520 liters
1 pound of beef 5,214 gallons/20428 liters
Putting water use info into perspective -
If you shower each day for 7 minutes, using a shower with a flow rate of 2 gallons per minute, you are using 14 gallons of water per day (7 minutes x 2 gallons), or 98 gallons per week. Rounding that up to 100 gallons per week, in 52 weeks you would be using 5,200 gallons of water per year to take a daily shower.
Comparing 5,200 gallons of water used by taking a 7 minute shower every day for a year, to the 5,214 gallons of water it takes to produce a pound of beef (using the estimate noted by water specialists at the University of California, noted above), you realize that in California today, you can save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you will save by not showering for a year.
Take your choice -- 4 hamburgers or a year's worth of showers?
According to the calculations of the celebrated Dr. Pimentel of Cornell, you could go two years without a shower and still not save as much water as you would by not eating one pound of beef.
Number of people whose food energy needs can be met by the food produced on 2.5 acres of land:
Comparing 5,200 gallons of water used by taking a 7 minute shower every day for a year, to the 5,214 gallons of water it takes to produce a pound of beef (using the estimate noted by water specialists at the University of California, noted above), you realize that in California today, you can save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you will save by not showering for a year.
Take your choice -- 4 hamburgers or a year's worth of showers?
According to the calculations of the celebrated Dr. Pimentel of Cornell, you could go two years without a shower and still not save as much water as you would by not eating one pound of beef.
Number of people whose food energy needs can be met by the food produced on 2.5 acres of land:
If the land is producing cabbage 22 people
If the land is producing potatoes 19 people
If the land is producing rice 17 people
If the land is producing corn 15 people
If the land is producing wheat 2 people
If the land is producing chicken 2 people
If the land is producing milk 1 person
If the land is producing eggs 1 person
If the land is producing beef 1/2 person
"In a world where an estimated one in every six people goes hungry every day, the politics of meat consumption are increasingly heated, since meat production is an inefficient use of grain -- the grain is used more efficiently when consumed directly by humans. Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grains to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat eaters and the world's poor." -Worldwatch Institute
If the land is producing potatoes 19 people
If the land is producing rice 17 people
If the land is producing corn 15 people
If the land is producing wheat 2 people
If the land is producing chicken 2 people
If the land is producing milk 1 person
If the land is producing eggs 1 person
If the land is producing beef 1/2 person
"In a world where an estimated one in every six people goes hungry every day, the politics of meat consumption are increasingly heated, since meat production is an inefficient use of grain -- the grain is used more efficiently when consumed directly by humans. Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grains to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat eaters and the world's poor." -Worldwatch Institute
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