70% of all water goes to producing food :new report - 29 May 2008  
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Saving water by looking at food consumption. The Stockholm International Water Institute has published a new report called “Saving Water from Field to Fork.” Its findings were presented to the United Nations to explain the need to save water in order to meet the organization’s Millennium Development Goal of reducing world hunger.

Jan Lundqvist, co-author of report, Stockholm International Water Institute: We have to look more at what’s happening from field to fork. So from the place where food is produced to the place that we eat it, there are so many things happening. And there are lot of losses and wastage along that road.

VOICE: Jan Lundqvist of the Stockholm International Water Institute co-authored the report, which says that 70% of all water goes to producing food, compared to just 10% for household use and 20% by industries. Moreover, the average city dweller consumes up to 3,000 liters of water per day for food alone.

Jan Lundqvist: On a per capita basis, with growing income and improvements in standard of living, people will demand food which is more water intensive.

VOICE: It takes up to 2,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of wheat and up to 20,000 liters to produce 1 kg of beef. Consumers can help save water by curbing their demand for water intensive foods such as meat.

Jan Lundqvist: The main implication is from the fodder, from the feed, because it takes a lot of water to grow the crops or the grass or the feed that they (cows) are eating.

VOICE: Avoiding food waste, which ends up causing pollution in landfills, is another easy way to conserve a lot of water. We thank the Stockholm International Water Institute and all involved for this informative report. May we each do our part to make wise use of the world’s precious water supply, both in our homes and in the supermarket.