Consumers Have Not Been Told Where the Water is Really Going
"More than half of the available freshwater supply in the United States is used to grow feed for livestock. Because of this and the fact that this water is nonrenewable, water tables in the Midwest and Great Plains are quickly being depleted, while surface water in the western states is running on borrowed time. Shortages are beginning to occur and will become commonplace, especially in Western states.
Although consumers in all of these states have been forced occasionally to ration water, they have not been told that the reason they are running out of water for showering or drinking is because most of it has been or is being pumped off for livestock – to grow their feed, for them to drink, or in the slaughtering process.
...Beyond the narrow view of enforcing rationing...policy-makers will be forced to take a closer look at just where all the water is going."
– Dr. Richard Oppenlander, Comfortably Unaware While we take pains to conserve water at home during this drought, precious nonrenewable water tables are still being rapidly depleted for the meat/dairy industry – which uses MORE THAN HALF of the available freshwater supply in the United States (per Center for Science in the Public Interest)! Does it make sense to focus on household water use (5%) while ignoring animal agriculture and the food choices it accommodates (55%)? Chime in below.