Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it may not seem like you saw a lot of water but there was water in and used to produce the Thanksgiving meal. There are three different categories of water: Blue water, Green water, and Grey water. Here is how it is defined according to the Water Footprint Calculator (https://watercalculator.org/footprint/what-is-a-water-footprint/ and a few other sources):
Blue Water Footprint: The amount of surface water and groundwater required (evaporated or used directly) to produce an item.
Green Water Footprint: The amount of rainwater required (evaporated or used directly) to make an item.
Grey Water Footprint: The amount of freshwater required to dilute the wastewater generated in manufacturing, in order to maintain water quality , as determined by state and local standards.
Some numbers presented for water used to produce a Thanksgiving meal is (from the Lehigh County Water Authority in Allentown, PA https://www.lehighcountyauthority.org/2017/11/talking-turkey-about-water-footprints/)
Most of the list that follows was sourced from the Groundwater Foundation. Keep in mind that these numbers are all estimated — it’s not feasible to track every single gallon used. But they’re in the ballpark, according to experts like the folks at United States Geological Survey.
Let’s start with the biggest sponge (it’s probably not what you think); the rest are in no particular order:
- Cranberries: These weigh in at a whopping 1,559 gallons PER CAN.
- Potatoes: 38 gallons per pound.
- Carrots: 36 gallons per pound.
- Turkey: 468 gallons per pound.
- Wine: 50-75 gallons of water per 8 oz. glass.
- Beer: 86 gallons per pint.
- Bread: 200 gallons per pound.
- Pumpkin (for the pie, of course!): 44 gallons per pound.
These numbers may seem high but once you think about the total Life Cycle of producing the food the numbers seem to make more sense. So for the Cranberries for example (and this is Gary’s take ) by the time you account for the water to grow the fruit, the water to flood the ponds to harvest the cranberries, and then process the cranberries into cranberry sauce the volume would be close to the value shown. Likewise for all of the other things on the list.
Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!
