As vegans celebrate World Vegan Day, study says greener diet saves water resources
The need to move from an animal-rich, water-intensive diet to a more resource-efficient vegetable-rich diet may substantially reduce people’s water footprint.
DAVID NOBLE: ‘Vegans and vegetarians are helping to conserve the planet’s valuable freshwater resources says a study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, reports Bluewater, a world leader in water purification technology and solutions.
With the United Nations reporting that 2 billion people live in areas suffering severe water stress, the EU study – published in Nature Sustainability – says that compared to existing diets, the water required to produce our food could be reduced by up to 55 percent by sticking to healthy vegetarian diets.
“In an age when fresh water is becoming scarcer than before, and ever more contaminated by the likes of pesticides, herbicides, and microplastics, human food consumption clearly needs to adapt to the changing conditions,” said Bluewater spokesperson David Noble.
Noting the study in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom claimed to be the most detailed food consumption-related water survey ever made, Noble said the need to move from an animal-rich, water-intensive diet to a more resource-efficient vegetable-rich diet may substantially reduce people’s water footprint.
2019 has been billed as the year of the vegan by The Economist. The prestigious magazine wrote that interest in giving up “all animal products including eggs, wool, and silk, is soaring, especially among millennials”.
Other data appears to confirm that veganism is a fast-growing trend with one study saying six percent of US consumers now claim to be vegan. The World Economic Forum also says research shows that a healthy, plant-based diet helps reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, obesity, and diabetes – some of the top killers in many western countries’. SOURCE…
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