Meat & Water: the steaks are high

Whoever has been haunted by the 1973 film Soylent Green may remember the jubilation of detective Robert Thorn (played by Charlton Heston) upon finding and stealing a dry beef steak while investigating a crime scene. In his world at least, set in the not too distant year 2022, meat production is rare, as are any fresh agricultural products, and the population is barely sustained by tasteless nutrient-sufficient “soylent” wafers, the horrifying source of which I won’t spoil for you if you’re keen to see the movie.

We’re only 12 years away from the dystopian future predicted in Soylent Green, but on the surface it seems as though we’re light years away from the scarcity of meat or agricultural products. However when we look at the clear data indicating water scarcity, it doesn’t take much of a rocket scientist to realise the connection between a shrinking water supply and the agricultural products that we rely upon for life.

And connected to this is the alarming amount of meat products currently being consumed worldwide. Raising livestock for our diets, for example, takes a far heavier toll on amounts of water used than do plant foods. “To the quantities (of water) consumed by animals in their daily lives have to be added the amounts taken to grow feed crops, plus the considerable volume necessary to operate slaughterhouses and processing factories.” (1) A pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce, compared to 250 gallons of water for a pound of soy or 25 gallons for a pound of wheat. The diet of an average meat eater requires 15 times more than a plant-based diet. And the amount of global meat eaters doesn’t seem to be going down just yet, rather the reverse. According to a November 2001 report by the World Bank, the “total global meat demand is expected to grow from 209 million tons in 1997 to 327 million tons in 2020 (56%).” (2)

The increasing amount of meat-eaters in the developing and developed world contributes indirectly to the severe malnutrition of other human populations, as the land used for livestock feed detracts from the overall possible agricultural land used for human nutrition. That is, the crops used to feed animals for meat-consumption in Europe, for example, are taken from Brazil or Africa, whose own populations are suffering from malnutrition. In his book So Shall We Reap, Colin Tudge says of the increasing livestock market: “If present trends of meat-eating continue, then by 2050 the world’s livestock will be consuming as much as 4 billion people do.“ An estimated 3.6 million children could be saved from malnutrition by a 50% reduction in meat consumption in developed countries.

Livestock and Pollution

Besides the devastating land-use impact of raising livestock (30% of the world’s land surface is used for livestock grazing or agricultural feed for the animals)—which includes the massive clearing, slashing and burning of trees and vegetation—the livestock industry is an enormous contributor worldwide to water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Estimates of worldwide annual GHG emissions from livestock wastes and processing range from 18% in 2006 to 51% in 2009 (3-4). Even the most conservative estimate is still enormous, given that, in addition, the largely-untreated amounts of livestock waste (the annual amount of which is 130 times more than human waste) also contributes to alarming water pollution, frequently seeping into the soil or running off into rivers and oceans, creating dead zones. Dead zones are vast tracts of destroyed marine ecosystems that can no longer support life due to the lack of oxygen from concentrated chemical fertilizers and livestock waste. The largest of 146 U.N.-identified dead zones is over 70,000 square kilometres and can be seen from outer space. (5)

What can be done?

the betterplace LAB has identified case studies of sustainable agriculture and local small farm projects on our new Water Knowledge Portal. Groups like SEKEM or the betterplace project Green Desert Peru use sustainable agriculture methods to turn human and agricultural waste and livestock manure into natural fertilizers for crops.

In her interview, Dr. Lena Partzsch—water expert from Greifswald University—explains how conscious consumerism and cutting back on meat consumption are valuable measures that individuals can take in reducing their water footprint.

The Water Knowledge Portal features a glossary of water-related terms, including the description of a “Water Footprint” and a calculator that you can use to find out your own water footprint, and how to tread more lightly. You can also zoom in to explore this wonderful infographic (below) that provides one clear pictures of daily water use.

Other innovative measures include eating locally (see the Tyee series on the 100-mile diet), consuming consciously (see the Good Stuff? Guide), or thinking out of the box, as Sweden did, in turning their trains and public transportation system into biogas engines, fuelled by the methane from livestock.

Let’s save water by reducing our meat consumption, and hopefully avoid the soylent green future of tasteless food and water scarcity.

Sources:

1. Compassion in World Farming Report: The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat (pdf) (http://www.ciwf.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2008/g/global_benefits_of_eating_less_meat.pdf)
2. Livestock Development – Implications for Rural Poverty, the Environment, and Global Food Security
3. The 2006 U.N. Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, Livestock’s Long Shadow (http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm)
4. 2009 study by Robert Goodland & Jeff Anhang: “Livestock and Climate Change” (pdf) in World Watch magazine
5. Dead Zones - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_%28ecology%29)
6. Why Veg? www.whyveg.com
7. WorldWatch: www.worldwatch.org