Freshwater Scarcity and the Choices We Make About Food
The world's usable freshwater is distributed unevenly, and agriculture is by far its largest consumer — which means adjusting what we eat is closely tied to water security.
Freshwater is a renewable resource, but it's distributed very unevenly across both geography and time, and many regions are now facing some degree of water stress. Agricultural irrigation accounts for the largest share of global freshwater consumption, and a substantial portion of that is tied directly to feed crops and water use in animal production.
Viewing Diet's Impact Through the Lens of the Watershed
Some livestock and feed-crop operations in arid and semi-arid regions are, in effect, drawing down groundwater and river resources that are already under strain. This “borrowing from tomorrow” approach to water use may sustain output in the short term, but over the long run it can cause water tables to keep falling, ecosystems to degrade, and even threaten other water needs within the region.
Bringing Water Resources Into Dietary Decisions
Factoring water security into food choices can start with a few approaches:
- Understanding how water footprints differ across food categories, and favoring protein sources that use less water
- Paying attention to whether food comes from regions already under water stress, and weighing its sustainability with care
- Reducing food waste, which is itself an effective way of indirectly conserving water
- Supporting the spread of water-saving agricultural technology and watershed management policy
The freshwater crisis isn't always as visible as air pollution, but it is closely bound up with the food choices we make every day — and it deserves far more attention than it gets.
Related reading
The Hidden Superpower of Plant-Based Diets: How Our Daily Meals Can Save the Wild
One Meatless Day a Week: The Environmental Payoff of a Small Change
The Food of the Future: Cultivated Meat and Plant-Based Protein
