Water and Food Security

PENCINTA ALAM JUNE 2012
ECO KIDS COLUMN

WATER AND FOOD SECURITY
(Compiled and edited by Wong Ee Lynn
gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com)

On the occasion of World Water Day, 22nd March 2012, the United Nations produced a series of educational posters called "Water For Food", to show the relationship between food production and water use.

Water is part of any production process. We need water to grow apples as well as to produce a packet of chips. It takes only 25 litres of water, for instance, to produce 1 potato, but 2,400 litres of water to produce 1 hamburger. A litre of bottled drinking water (often mistakenly referred to as "mineral water") requires 3 litres of water to produce. The food we choose to consume, therefore, has a large impact on how much water the world needs to produce food to feed the planet. Vegetable, grain and fruit-based foods generally need less water to produce than meat-based foods.

Have a look at these posters and see if the statistics surprise you. What can you do to reduce the amount of water needed to produce your food? Perhaps you can be more diligent about bringing your own drinking water from home rather than buy bottled water from the shops. Perhaps you can choose to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of meat. Perhaps you could opt for plain water instead of coffee or carbonated drinks. Having the knowledge of how much water is needed to produce a particular food item or beverage means you can make better choices for the benefit of the environment.