April 20, 2021

Beef consumption in US contributes most to water scarcity, researchers found

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan found that, for the average US diet, beef consumption contributed the most to water scarcity.

The study involved Martin Heller and his colleagues examining the diets of 16,800 people in the United States. They calculated each person's impact on water scarcity based on the types of foods they consumed, the irrigation water used in the production of these foods and the water scarcity in the regions where they were farmed.

The findings hint at ways people in industrialised societies could modify their diets to save water, said the researchers. For example, they calculate that swapping 100 grams of beef for chicken could cut the impact on water scarcity of the average US diet by up to 16%.

The key caveat is that the impact of food production on water supplies "can vary dramatically by geographic location", said Heller.

For example, beef production in Australia has a far lower impact on water resources than in the US, said Brad Ridoutt at CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia. "I don't think [conserving water] is about avoiding one type of food, it's about incentivising and enabling transitions to happen on the production side of things," he added.

- New Scientist