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Food Consumption And Production

stinsteejfrankMelany17markweee
By: stins, teej, frank, Melany17, and markweee
Posted 10/07/08 • Last updated 06/19/12 • 4067 views • 0 comments

It's important to have three good meals a day.  It keeps your body movin' and groovin' and keeps your brain sharp! 

 

But when it comes right down to it, our food (and drink) consumption is taking a pretty big toll on the environment.  Here's a list of common foods we eat and the resources it takes to make them.  And of course...ways to green up!

 

If you eat/drink...

You need...

Green it!

1 bar of chocolate

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll eat 12 pounds of chocolate or about 64 3-ounce bars per year)

40 cocoa beans (just about 1 cacao pod)

 

x 60

For the year: you need 3 cacao trees (to produce the 60 cacao pods needed)...and if you're Swiss, you need 5 trees (they eat a lot of chocolate)

 Buy organic and/or fair trade chocolate

1 steak

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll eat  67 pounds of beef per year which is about 5 steaks and 3 hamburgers per month)

1200 gallons of water and 8 pounds of grain

 

 x 167,500 + x 1072

 

For the year: you need one-tenth of a cow...but that means (just for that 1/10th of a cow) you need 167,500 gallons of water and 1072 pounds of grain...every year.  You also need 3.35 acres of land to get that 67 pounds of beef.

 When you eat beef, try grass-fed, free-range, or organic: check out EatWild.com for grass-fed information

1 can of soda

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll drink 150 quarts or 37.5 gallons of soda every year)

4 to 10 gallons of water and 39 grams of sugar

 

x 19,200 + x 161

 

For the year: you need somewhere from 19,200 to 48,000 gallons of water and 161 pounds of sugar to keep you outfitted with a variety of soft drinks, soda, and pop.

1 glass of orange juice

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll drink over 5 gallons of orange juice every year)

49 gallons of water and 3 oranges

 

x 33,000 + x 204

 

For the year: you need 33,000 gallons of water and 2035 oranges or roughly 204 orange trees.
  • Drink organic!
  • Juice your own oranges
  • Buy concentrated and mix your own (this will save a bunch of emissions from shipping water with the juice and pulp)

1 egg

 

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll eat almost 260 eggs per year)

62 gallons of water and 0.4 pounds of feed

 

=x 104 +x 16,000
 
For the year: you need needs 16,000 gallons of water and 104 pounds of grain...that's a little more than one hen just for you.
  • Get eggs in recyclable packaging (and make sure to recycle it)
  • Buy eggs in bulk, and reuse your packaging
  • Eat free-range or organic eggs
  • Never toss a good egg out- use the cold water test!

3 slices of bacon

 

 

 

(but if you're the average American, over the course of one year, you'll eat a whopping 17.9 pounds of bacon)

More than one pound of grain and 150 gallons of water for just 3 slices of bacon (6 pounds of grain are required to produce 1 pound of boneless pork). 

 

x 107 + x 14,000

 

For the year: you need 107.4 pounds of grain and 14,000 gallons of water (for 280 slices) to bring home the bacon (or about 9% of a bacon-weight pig).

 Try organic or natural bacon like that from Organic Prairie or Niman Ranch

 1 slice of cheese

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll eat 31 pounds of cheese per year)

56 gallons of water and 332 square-feet of land

 

x 28,000

 

For the year: you need calls for 3.8 acres of land and just shy of 28,000 gallons of water.
  • Buy local cheese to cut down on the shipping distances
  • Eat organic!
  • Buy in bulk to reduce packaging (although those cheeses wrapped in individual wax containers are pretty fun)

2 cups of coffee per day

 

 

(but if you're the average American, you'll drink 24.2 gallons every year and use 4.2 kg of beans)

200 coffee beans and 74 gallons of water

x 18 + x 29,000

 

For the year: you need 18 coffee trees just for your own caffeination sensation and almost 29,000 gallons of water

 

 

Green Eating = Less Eating

Captain Obvious tells us the best way to "green" your consumption is to reduce your consumption. But for the sake of the chart...and not being horribly repetitive, it's not listed in the quick greening tips.  Just keep that in mind.

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Green Options › Articles › Food Consumption And Production