News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

Why Wasted Food Means Wasted Water

Jessica Marshall, Discovery News

"About 1.2 to 1.4 billion people are living in areas where all of the water is committed," Lundqvist said. "There is simply no more water to take. So if people want to have more water, they either have to take it from someone else, or we have to make more efficient use of it."

Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water -- up to 70 percent in California and most other areas where crops are grown, said Meena Palaniappan, an international water specialist at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif. "When we're talking about ways to reduce or conserve water, obviously agriculture has to be the place where attention is paid."

In areas like Africa and many parts of Asia where upstream wastage dominates, Lundqvist said, waste could be reduced through better harvesting technology, storage and transport.

In the West, however, reducing household waste is key.

Lundqvist pointed out that reducing meat consumption, and overeating in general, could also contribute. There are about 50 percent more people who are overweight or obese than who are undernourished, according to the report.

"This issue of efficiency of agricultural production is incredibly central to any environmental outcome over the next century, not just water," said Marshall Burke of the Program on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University. "Wastage is one clear, clear inefficiency where, if you could reduce it, it would have really useful effects for water, for nitrogen use, and for land use."

Read the Report

Stockholm International Water Institute

World Resources Institute

Planet Green