Following the Flow - Is Animal Agriculture Making Californian’s Thirsty?
California’s four-year drought has raised the discussion of statewide water preservation. To-date, Governor Brown’s executive orders have focused on reducing water consumption by twenty-five percent to local homes, businesses, and schools. However, Brown’s orders fail to address California’s largest water consumer: Animal agriculture, which consumes nearly half of the state’s water and which contributes to the global increase in temperatures, exacerbating the drought.
Though Earth cycles through periods of increasing and decreasing temperatures, humans have further induced the warming of our planet with overpopulation, deforestation, habitat destruction, species extinction,
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According to the Pacific Institute, more than 93% of California’s water footprint is attributed to agricultural products, 47% being meat and dairy (Fulton et al. 3). Animal husbandry requires more water than the production of plant protein, due livestock’s water-intensive feed, such as alfalfa. Among California’s top ten water users, alfalfa is the most water-intensive (Fox). In a given day, a cow consumes 140 to 150 pounds of feed and drinks 30 to 40 gallons of water a day. Moreover, one ton of beef requires 145,000 gallons of water, which is 24,000 more gallons than what is required for a ton of pork, 107,000 more gallons than one ton of root vegetables, and an incredible 133,700 more water than a ton of vegetables (Mekonnen et. al 2012). That being said, 2,500 gallons of water are required to produce only one pound of beef, which is the equivalent of showering for two or three months!
On a per capita basis, Californians consume about 1,500 gallons of water a day, half of which is associated with animal products such as meat and dairy. Jerry Brown’s initiatives are focused on reducing household direct water usage (eg. showering and lawn irrigation) -- However, direct household water consumption amounts to only four-percent of California’s water footprint. Three-percent is dedicated to industrial products (eg. electronics and clothing) and the rest is used by the agricultural industry (Fulton et al.