Saving water by changing our diets

The product fraction of a product is defined as the “weight of the primary product obtained per ton of live animal” (Chapagain and Hoekstra 2003b); the value fraction refers to the “ratio of the market value of one product from the animal to the sum of the market values of all products from the animal” (Chapagain and Hoekstra 2003b). [...] The virtual water content of products of secondary, tertiary, and other production levels are calculated by including the virtual water content of the primary root product, and additionally the processing water required. [...] Since the virtual water content of live animals refers to the virtual water content at the end the average lifetime of an animal, the consumed water must be distributed to all products harvested from the animal. [...] Adding to the above comparison of wheat and beef pork that has a virtual water content of 3276 m3 and poultry that has a virtual water content of 1358 m3 the gap shown at the beginning of this summary between the virtual water content of crop and meat decreases on a high degree. [...] Wheat and pork contribute approximately to the same amount of proteins; the amount of proteins of beef and poultry is nearly one and a half of the amount of proteins of the former.