This week I wanted to provide a PSA. I know, there are so many warnings and ideas about what’s going on in the world, but I think this is something for which we can all make a change. Do you know how much water it takes to make your food?
I hadn’t really thought of it until a friend of mine was talking to me about the the current drought map in the United States. Did you know, it takes 4.9 gallons of water to produce ONE walnut and 1.1 gallons to produce ONE almond?? I’m not trying to “demonize” any one type of nut or food, but stop and think how few people are fed by one nut as compared to a tomato or head of broccoli.
Have you looked at the current US drought map or the current California drought map which I you can find here http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/? California is going through the worst drought they may have likely ever seen. So, one would assume this is due to population or some other identifiable reason like produce growth. Based on population, lets look at New York City: There isn’t even an abnormality. Which leads a person to think it’s probably due to another reason. If you then look at the California produce map, the two are a close comparison. For me and my non-scientific opinion, it seems to mean there is a problem coming from the multitude of produce created in California.
So where am I going with all of this? We obviously do not want to starve people by cutting off California produce production, but can’t each of us make a conscious decision to eat food that is not only nutritious, but, also, not a water suck? What if you chose the broccoli instead of the almond? Or coconut milk rather than almond milk? How much water does your favorite food take to create, and is there an alternative? Using just the examples presented in the links above, why not choose coconut milk rather than almond milk, pistachio’s rather than walnuts, or chicken rather than beef. Another point: meat takes a huge amount of water to create.
As always, why not ride your bike, run or walk to the grocery store. And don’t forget your re-usable bag–my friends are going to start calling me a hippie!! I’d love to hear any of your thoughts or ideas and good luck in making Earth friendly choices that are good for you.
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A Diabetic Girl 