How Much Water Do You Eat?

I think its time I set things straight… I’m a vegetarian (well pescetarian for the most part).

Many people don’t get it (my eastern European family), many people joke about (everyone), some think it’s a fad (my uncle), but I am going to finally explain my lifestyle choice once and for all so that people can stop telling me I’m crazy.

The big question is why I became a vegetarian. It all started when I wrote a blog post about sustainable coffee and in my research I discovered the amount of virtual water that goes into just one cup. During that time I also came across a devastating fact about the virtual water that goes into a burger. First let me clarify what exactly this “virtual water” thing is. According to The Water Footprint Assessment Manual:

Virtual water (also known as embedded or embodied water) refers to the hidden flow of water in food or other commodities when traded from one place to another. The precise volume can be more or less depending on climatic conditions and agricultural practice.

Essentially all the water that is used in the process of making what you’re buying. They call it “virtual” water because you don’t actually consume the water, instead it is consumed within the initial lifecycle of that product or food.  Virtual water is divided into three main categories:

Green water: the amount of rainwater that circulates through crops.

Blue water: the volume of surface and ground water required for food production and thus unavailable for other uses.

Grey water: water required to dilute until no longer hazardous contaminants arising from fertilisation and other processes.

The most frightening fact that I have learned in my research is that one pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons of water to produce. And that ladies and gentlemen is the reason I am a vegetarian. Not something most people think about on the daily which is completely understandable. I had no idea myself until I wrote my other blog post.

So you ask; why is producing livestock so water resource intensive? The answer mainly lies in the feed for the livestock, not the livestock itself. There are two main reasons for this, the first is the feed-to-meat ratio, so how much feed is needed for a cow compared to how much meat we actually get from it. For beef, the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is 7:1. Let me say that again… 7:1. That’s completely insane. In fact the larger the animal’s body mass, the larger the percentage of inedible mater such as bones and muscles. That’s a lot of water that goes into feeding parts of animals that we’re not even eating. That water is consumed by the feed that is required for the livestock, fertilizers, fuel to power farm machinery, land for farm fields and so forth. Eventually it all adds up. The second reason that livestock is so water resource intensive is the quantity of livestock on our planet. While livestock is estimated to be around 20 billion, there are only 7 billion people. As our population grows, the livestock population grows at a much quicker rate. We’re essentially creating a world where we are in competition with cows for one of our most precious and scarce resources.

One thing to take into consideration is where the livestock is grown. Or anything you eat for that matter. Something grown or raised in a country like Egypt will require three times the water as something grown or raised in Canada due to the extremely hot climate. However, if you were situated in Egypt then the embodied water of a local product, regardless of the high water consumption volume, might actually be less than something produced in Canada that was transported there… it’s tricky, sustainable food is a very situational and geographic thing.

So for this reason, vegetarianism appealed to me. I try to limit my fish and seafood intake to those sustainably farmed or locally caught. How will you know? Typically at restaurants you will see this logo below; it’s the Ocean Wise certification. Ocean Wise is a conservation program that works to prevent over fishing, maintaining sustainably farmed fish and limiting habitat damage. However in general, seafood tends to be on the lower end of the water consumption ladder anyways.

I’ve gotten a thousand and one questions about what it is that I eat then. Well one rule of thumb is to stick to locally grown produce or farmers markets. That way you know that the transportation element is limited and hopefully if it’s from a farmers market, the chemical usage is probably at a minimum. This would limit the chemical filtration process, or the grey water phase I mentioned earlier in the post. I can get further into it in another post, but as always, the closer the better!

Vegetarianism isn’t that bad… I’m almost at a year and it’s one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made.

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References:

Meat’s large water footprint: why raising livestock and poultry for meat is so resource-intensive

Front Page

http://www.wearewater.org/en/wwdlegal

Front Page

A Response to “Water Footprint Network: International Virtual Water Flows”

The Daily Grind

Nothing excites me more than a solid discussion about my favourite thing in the world…coffee *drool*. Before I began my quest to become a more sustainable human being I was so carefree about all things coffee; as long as it had caffeine and cured my morning fatigue I didn’t care where it came from or what brand it was. Needless to say, there is a lot more that goes into making a cup of joe than just water and beans. The importance of sustainable coffee is tremendous which is why I’ve indulged in this topic.

What makes coffee unsustainable?

To understand how to be more conscious, it is important to know the odds and ends of unsustainable coffee. To begin, drinking coffee in North America is already a fairly unsustainable practice. We are (in most cases) unable to grow coffee beans in our cold and unbearable climate; therefore our coffee is imported from warmer climate countries within the subtropical and equatorial regions such as Columbia, Guatemala, or Brazil. A single coffee bean in that respect has a fairly large ecological footprint for what it is, which is why it’s important to consider a more sustainable practice.

Fun fact of the day: ONE cup of coffee requires over 140L (including growth, processing, transportation, etc) of water to produce…and who said coffee was dehydrating?? Not only is it impacting the environment by exhausting much of our earth’s water resources, but coffee tends to be grown in developing countries where there is a extreme deficit in economic and social justice. Therefore, coffee directly impacts the Triple Bottom Line (people, profit, and planet).

Now I know I sound pessimistic, and I’m not here to put a damper on your perpetual need to indulge in a Grande Dark Roast (because let’s be serious, I’m the biggest coffee addict I know). Instead I’m going to enlighten you on how to create less of an impact every time you wake up and put in 8 scoops of finely ground beans into your 6 cup coffee maker…not that I’m speaking out of experience or anything.

The Sustainable Route

Lo and behold there is hope!! No one has to go through caffeine withdrawal just to be sustainable. Ever heard of The Rainforest Alliance? It’s a wonderful NGO (non-governmental organization) that certifies coffee farms based on a set of criteria. The interesting thing about coffee beans is that they are meant to be shade-grown, unlike how they’re grown now. Let me elaborate, unsustainable coffee began within the past 25 years when farmers developed a system in which they could cultivate coffee beans within a clear-cut plot (removing the original high-canopy forest) using chemically enhanced fertilizer in order to produce mass quantities of lesser quality beans. These plantations increase soil erosion which exposes water and soil to harmful toxic chemicals, as well as destroys the natural habitats of native birds within the area.

The Rainforest Alliance Certification states that;

On Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, coffee grows in harmony with nature: soils are healthy, waterways are protected, trash is reduced or recycled, wildlife thrives and migratory bird habitat flourishes.

Not only do they protect the natural habitats of native plants, animals, and vegetation, but they also help the economic disparity that a vast majority of coffee farmers experience. Studies have shown that farmers who demonstrate these Rainforest Alliance Certified sustainable farming methods actually generate 150-250% more revenue than non-certified farmers because of the efficiency in farm management.

After all is said and done, this information is useless unless you know where to actually buy certified coffee. Retailers such as Second Cup, Timothy’s, and McDonalds (who have amazing coffee in my opinion) are great places to start. Keep in mind that The Rainforest Alliance is only one certification for sustainable coffee. There are many other great organizations such as FairTrade International which helps with economic sustainability within the industry.

You will know if your coffee has been certified if these logos are located on the package.

On that note…Drink up :)

References:

http://www.groundsforchange.com/learn/onepercent.php?

http://www.ico.org/planting_e.asp?section=About_Coffee

http://www.blackgoldfoundation.org/faq/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/22/world-water-day-2011-cost-footprint_n_839189.html#s256641&title=Hamburger

Front Page

http://www.coffeebeans.ie/about-coffee-page34052.html

All Things Food.

So I haven’t written a post in quite some time; I’ve been extremely busy moving and graduating school…

After moving, and starting to pay all my expenses on my own, I noticed grocery shopping has been based more off of “what can I afford” as opposed to “what do I have the luxury of eating”. Let’s just say organic food is no longer an option for me; it’s far too expensive and no organic grocery stores are readily accessible. But my new found curiosity for all-things-sustainable made me think, Is organic food actually sustainable? 

Turns out there is a huge difference between organic and sustainable food, let me break it down for you:

Organic food is labelled organic while sustainable isn’t, but does that make a difference?

Organic food typically has a label or sticker that deems it organic, however with sustainable foods there is no sticker. The reason for this is that sustainable food is subjective. For instance, apples grown in Ontario are sustainable if they are bought within Ontario, however, they become unsustainable the moment they need to be shipped internationally because this creates a large ecological footprint .

Organic food on the other hand solely implies that they are grown without pesticides…so we think. The organic food certification is actually quite complicated. According to the National Post:

Canada’s legislated organic certification process is an invitation for fraud and abuse, the report argues, with consumers paying an often hefty premium for a designation that requires no proof…The organic certification industry’s “dirty little secret,” they write, is that “organic crops and livestock are not tested in Canada before they are certified, thus making organic certification essentially meaningless.”

This states that organic food isn’t typically tested before it is labelled organic, so the organization relies on an honour system that sometimes is taken advantage of; this could mean that organic food is in fact not organic at all. On the other hand, sustainable food actually greatly impacts more than just the environment and our food source, it positively impacts the people, land, animals, community and environment that are involved in the production. The benefits are endless…here’s a few examples:

Sustainable food is socially responsible

Have you ever heard of Fairtrade? Fairtrade is about more reasonable prices, better working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.  These Fairtrade certified producers’ sites are constantly audited to ensure their products meet Fair Trade standards. According to Fairtrade Canada:

The trading conditions in many markets, such as those for cocoa, sugar, cotton, and tea, make it very difficult for producers to earn a living. Farmers are often paid prices which don’t begin to cover the costs of production.

What Fairtrade certification states is that these conditions are greatly improved. Essentially they want to create good relationships with their producers to ensure sustainable and ongoing production. All Fairtrade certified products are stamped with a Fairtrade label.

Sustainable food is seasonal

Seasonal food is sustainable in many ways; the food is fresh therefore the nutritional content is at its peak and it limits the ecological impact of transportation. If you’re not sure what is in season or not, it is easy to do the research. For information regarding seasonal foods, there’s a helpful chart on http://www.ontario.ca/foodland/availability-guide that I use to help with my shopping! 

Now I realize eating sustainably isn’t going to be the easiest or the most convenient, but it delivers many great benefits that need to be reaped in order for our world to prosper. It will greatly impact the entire supply chain, creating a better living for not only yourself but everyone involved in the process.

Next time you go shopping, remember… Select Sustainable :)

References:

“Fair Price & Premiums.” Fairtrade Canada. Fairtrade Canada. Web. 30 Jan 2014. <http://fairtrade.ca/en/about-fairtrade/fair-price-premiums&gt;.

“Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture.” University of Alberta. University of Alberta, n.d. Web. 30 Jan 2014. <http://www.rr.ualberta.ca/Research/EnvSustainableAgriculture.asp&xgt;.

Humphries, Adrian. “Canada’s organic food certification system ‘little more than an extortion racket,’ report says.” National Post. 24 11 2012: 1-3. Print. <http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/24/canadas-organic-food-certification-system-little-more-than-an-extortion-racket-report-says/&gt;.