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Veganism has many environmental advantages over animal-based diets. It has a lower impact on global warming, deforestation, and water and land pollution for a start. But possibly the most important advantage nowadays is that it uses far less fresh water. The influential Washington DC based Worldwatch Institute puts it like this:
‘… we humans are now taking half the available fresh water on the planet — leaving the other half to be divided among a million or more species. Since we depend on many of those species for our own survival (they provide all the food we eat and oxygen we breathe, among other services), that hogging of water poses a dilemma. If we break it down, species by species, we find that the heaviest water use is by the animals we raise for meat. One of the easiest ways to reduce demand for water is to reduce the amount of meat we eat.’
In Europe, the Netherlands-based Water Footprint Network has made similar recommendations based on the research of respected scientists. It states:
‘Per ton of product, animal products generally have a larger water footprint than crop products. The same is true when we look at the water footprint per calorie. The average water footprint per calorie for beef is twenty times larger than for cereals and starchy roots. When we look at the water requirements for protein, it has been found that the water footprint per gram of protein for milk, eggs and chicken meat is about 1.5 times larger than for pulses. For beef, the water footprint per gram of protein is 6 times larger than for pulses… From a freshwater resource perspective, it is more efficient to obtain calories, protein and fat through crop products than animal products.’
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A report from the International Water Management Institute recommends finding ways to produce more food using less water, noting that ‘840 million of the world’s people remain undernourished’. The report points out that it takes 550 litres of water to produce enough flour for one loaf of bread in developing countries, but up to 7,000 litres of water to produce just 100 grams of beef.
Put simply, going vegan saves water and ensures there is more food for starving people around the world.
For more on the environmental impacts of animal farming, have a look at this recent article from The Guardian.
