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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYour Contribution to the California Drought
The average American consumes more than 300 gallons of California water each week by eating food that was produced there.
California farmers produce more than a third of the nations vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts. To do that, they use nearly 80 percent of all the water consumed in the state. It is the most stubborn part of the crisis: To fundamentally alter how much water the state uses, all Americans may have to give something up.
The portions of foods shown here are grown in California and represent what average Americans, including non-Californians, eat in a week. We made an estimate of the amount of water it takes to grow each portion to give you a sense of your contribution to the California drought.
The estimates include the amount of water used to make derivative products. For example, grape consumption includes not just fresh grapes, but also wine, jam and juice.
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New York Times Article
Shocking how much water is used to produce such a small amount of food, but when you grow that food in a fairly arid environment, irrigation becomes extremely important. This is not a sustainable model.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Same thing is going on here in Texas, sadly a not so progressive state.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Thus, big ag goes to the head of the line for water. Everybody else gets trickled on.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)He's just another corrupt politician.
Ron Green
(9,823 posts)something capitalism routinely forgets to use.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Using the true cost to the commons for various industries would dramatically alter the tax code.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)Pot.
A single marijuana plant consumes 6 gallons of water per DAY. Multiply that times the millions of plants being grown in the state times the number of days in a growing cycle, and you're looking at major, major water usage.
Let's translate that into NYT numbers. A single pot plant uses 42 gallons of water per week. It should probably be on the list.
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/04/your-pot-habit-sucks-salmon