text (1406): The "1,800 gallons of water goes into making one pound of beef" statistic is brilliant deception.

They calculate "water footprint" using three categories: green water (rainfall), blue water (actual irrigation), and grey water (theoretical dilution water).

For beef, 94% is green water. Rain falling on pasture that cattle drink and piss back within days. This rain was falling anyway. It's the natural water cycle.

Only 4% is blue water - actual irrigation.

For almonds? They often only report blue water and leave out green water calculations they included for beef.

Actual blue water comparison:

Beef: 50 liters per liter

Almonds: 600 liters per liter

Almonds use 12 times more actual irrigation than beef. But the headline says beef uses more water because they counted rain falling on pasture.

British beef: 90% of water is rainfall on permanent pasture in Wales and Scotland. Rain that falls constantly whether cattle are there or not. The cattle drink it, piss it back, it returns to the water table within days. Closed loop.

California almonds: 80% of world's almonds grown in chronic drought region. Pumping groundwater from aquifers that took 10,000 years to fill. The Central Valley is literally sinking as water is drained. Some areas have dropped 28 feet.

One borrows from the rain cycle. One mines prehistoric water reserves. But the statistics make you draw the opposite conclusion.

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