Truth or Drought

About Truth or Drought is a science-based grassroots campaign making the undeniable connection between animal consumption and environmental breakdown. Truth or Drought has recently been featured on the Daily Kos and Free Speech Radio Network. This group was started by concerned citizens in San Diego, CA. At so ... me point, each of us learned the truth; that animal agriculture is the #1 abuser of the Earth's precious freshwater supply. We learned startling facts such as: 5% of water consumed in the US is by private homes while 55% of water consumed in the US is for animal agriculture. (Center for Science in the Public Interest) 47% of California’s water footprint is associated with meat and dairy, and 4% with households. (Pacific Institute) 'The production of a meat based diet typically consumes twice the amount of water as compared to a vegetarian diet.' - UNESCO: Food, Water, and Energy Security “Eating lower on the food chain could allow the same volume of water to feed two Americans instead of one, with no loss in overall nutrition.” -Scientific American, “Growing More Food With Less Water” “The water used just to irrigate alfalfa and hay [used mostly as livestock feed] exceeds the irrigation needs of all the vegetables, berries, and fruit orchards combined.” - Center for Science in the Public Interest “Almost half (720 GPCD) of the average Californian’s water footprint is associated with the consumption of meat and dairy products.” - Pacific Institute It takes about 1,000 gallons of irrigation water to produce a quarter pound of animal protein. - Center for Science in the Public Interest Animal feed has the greatest water requirements of any crop in California. (Pacific Institute) 'You could save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you could by not showering for an entire year.' - John Robbins, 'The Food Revolution' In their report “Feeding a Thirsty World,” Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) scientists say a water-secure future requires a dramatic global meat reduction. (SIWI) 'On average, a vegan, a person who doesn't eat meat or dairy, indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet.' - National Geographic, 'Water Conservation Tips' “Unfortunately, the world has not really woken up to the reality of what we are going to face, in terms of the crises, as far as water is concerned. If you look at agricultural products, if you look at animal protein, the demand for which is growing-that’s highly water intensive.” - Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change (in Scientific American) It takes three times more water to produce milk than vegetables, ten times more water to produce eggs, fourteen times more water to produce chicken meat, nineteen times more water to produce pork, and forty eight times more water to produce beef than vegetables. (The Water Footprint Assessment Manual: Setting the Global Standard) “Replace a heavy meat meal by a vegetarian or light-meat meal (using other protein sources that are much less water-intensive.” - The Water Footprint Assessment Manual: Setting the Global Standard “Cow’s milk and beef burger have much larger water footprints than their soy equivalents.” - University of Twente 'The global average water footprint of a 150 gram beef burger is 2350 litres and the water footprint of a 150 gram soy burger produced in the Netherlands is 158 litres. The water footprint of 1 litre of cow’s milk is 1050 litres and the water footprint of 1 litre soy milk produced in Belgium amounts to 297 litres.' - University of Twente Grain-fed beef production takes 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of food. Raising broiler chickens takes 3,500 liters of water to make a kilogram of meat. In comparison, soybean production uses 2,000 liters for kilogram of food produced; rice, 1,912; wheat, 900; and potatoes, 500 liters. (David Pimentel, professor of ecology in Cornell University's