Eat Proteins Like Gemperle Farms Eggs to Lower Your Water Footprint
Your choice of foods like eggs can reduce your water footprint
Did you know that your food choice can affect your personal water footprint (total water use)? Choosing foods that require less water, like Gemperle Farms eggs, and plant-based foods such as beans, are smart food choices and better for the environment.
California only received 60% of the typical snowpack this last year. The calendar year 2020 was California’s third-warmest in the past 120 years. Are we entering into a drought pattern once again? Hopefully, in the next couple of years, we will see above-average precipitation and snowpack in the Sierra’s.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental (rivers protected as “wild and scenic” and water required for maintaining stream habitat and wetlands), 40% agricultural (crop and animal), and 10% urban. Since agriculture takes a large amount of water to produce our food, eating food with a low water footprint is something that we can do as individuals to live more lightly on the Earth — and USE LESS WATER.
So how do we eat in a way to conserve the precious water in California? Can we change the way we eat to reduce water consumption? Definitely, yes! As consumers, we have a choice to purchase foods that require little or lots of water to produce. Below are a couple of charts to help you choose the best type of “low water footprint proteins” for your diet. The first chart is based on the amount of water it takes to produce one gram of protein, The second chart indicates how much water it takes to produce 1000 calories of each protein source.
Water Footprint by Protein Gram
Water footprint by protein gram. Eggs are the lowest!
Source: Data From Water Footprint Network
Water Footprint for 1000 Calories
Water Footprint by Calorie. Eggs are the lowest!
Source: Data From Water Footprint Network. Charts from LA times Article April 15, 2015
As you can see from the charts above, eggs have the lowest water footprint in terms of calories and
protein than all of the other protein sources listed. Surprisingly, eggs need less water to produce than even plant-based proteins such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils. You can make a difference with our current drought by choosing Gemperle Farms eggs and low water footprint proteins for your diet. Every little bit helps and it takes the effort of all citizens to alleviate the drought disaster.
To find out more about the sustainability efforts of Gemperle Farms and how our eggs are produced, visit our information. To learn more about California snowpack and drought visit the California Department of Water resources
section.
