Water Grows Food
Throwing away food wastes not only the money families spend on the food,
but also wastes the water, work, and time used to grow the food. Think of the
food production chain and all the steps food takes to arrive at your table.
Farmers and ranchers need resources to grow food. They need
natural resources such as land, soil, air, nutrients, water, and
sunlight. Farmers and ranchers also need energy, water, technology,
tools, machinery, and money to be able to produce food.
Think about the food you eat everyday.
How much water does it take to produce
those foods? The chart to the right shows
how many gallons of water is needed to
make one pound (lb.) of each food item.
Remember when we said every person around the world throws
out about 2.6 pounds of trash every single day? Let’s calculate
how many gallons of water is wasted by throwing away food.
Using the numbers in the chart, complete the equations
below to calculate the number of gallons of water needed
to produce each of the given amounts of food:
Food Item Number of Gallons
of Water Needed to
Produce 1 Pound
of that Food
Avocados 141
Bananas 95
Beef 1,847
Bread 193
Broccoli 34
Butter 665
Cabbage 28
Cheese 381
Chicken 518
Chickpeas 501
Chocolate 2,061
Cucumbers 42
Eggplant 43
Eggs 391
Lamb 1,248
2 pounds
of chicken 518
x _____________ gallons of water
1,036 gallons
= __________________
per lb. of food Lemons 77
Lentils 704
6 pounds
of butter gallons of water
x _____________
= __________________
per lb. of food Lettuce 28
Milk 122
12 pounds
of peaches gallons of water
x _____________
= __________________
per lb. of food Oranges 67
Pasta 222
Peaches 109
Pork 718
Potatoes 34
Rice 299
Tomatoes 26
20 pounds
gallons of water
x _____________
= __________________
of potatoes
per lb. of food
3 pounds of
gallons of water
x _____________
= __________________
chocolate
per lb. of food
www.GrowingYourFuture.com - 5