One vintage bumper-sticker type slogan goes:
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
That came to mind when I was reading
this NYT interactive article, "Your Contribution to the California Drought". It starts:
"California farmers produce more than a third of the nation’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts. To do that, they use nearly 80 percent of all the water consumed in the state."
But then the kicker, tying back to the opening one-liner, is the next line in the article:
"It is the most stubborn part of the crisis: To fundamentally alter how much water the state uses, all Americans may have to give something up."
So I then had a look at the grapes that I bought this morning at the farmer's market, in light of the statement at the top of the article:
"A bunch of California grapes requires 24 gallons of water to produce."
As it turns out....
......the grapes that I bought were from Mexico, not California. No idea how much the wine, jam and juice factor that the NYT article alluded to applies in Mexico, but it's probably safe to assume that Mexican food companies produce jam, juice and wine for domestic consumption. That aside, in terms of the "Water Guzzlers" in the article, the ones that I myself consume the most frequently are rice and broccoli (though not just florets, rather the whole thing), not to mention milk. I noted strawberries on the list. The strawberries that I got today were from Illinois, FWIW. On the "Least Water Consumption" list, I actually don't partake of much there, except perhaps green peppers. (Kind of curious that one cauliflower floret requires less water compared to broccoli, but that might be a case of size mattering.)
Of course, information on water consumption has been out there for anyone who cares to look, but the California crisis has just put this on more people's radar (excluding climate change and science denying right-wing dingbats, natch). One example is this LA Times piece by Betty Hallock, which in turn cited this National Geographic page, "The Hidden Water We Use". Hallock notes:
"The obvious contributors to our water footprint are washing clothes and dishes, cooking and bathing. But the biggest contributor to our water footprint is our diet.
On average, the water we use in our households is about 98 gallons a day, says a U.S. Geological Survey. The industrial goods we use -- paper, cotton, clothes -- that's about another 44 gallons a day. But it takes more than 1,000 gallons of water a day per person to produce the food (and drinks) in the average U.S. diet, according to several sources. More than 53 gallons of water go into making 1 cup of orange juice, for example.
Well, we're all part of the problem, aren't we? And remember that line about "all Americans may have to give something up" cited before, and keep in mind that Americans don't really do sacrifice voluntarily, without being forced to by circumstances, certainly not when it comes to money. Hence the 'third rail' situation when it comes to gasoline taxes, or taxing all income to fund Social Security. We'd rather pillage the planet than give up our lifestyles, which is subliminally behind the horrible decision to allow Arctic drilling. I try to live rather frugally, carbon-footprint wise, to a fault, probably (which may explain a lot about 3CM the loser). But it's still a footprint, nonetheless.
Granted, this recent snafu with the Alameda Dam doesn't help California, not to mention the rest of us by proxy. More morose thoughts for holiday BBQ-ing for the carnivores among you, as you post your loser stories of the week below.....