After our baseline week at the start of the project, I’ve been focusing cutting back on on a few main foods to reduce the water foot print of my diet. They are:
- Cheese
- Chocolate
- Almonds and cashews (and groundnuts, but I have a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard that I opened before the project so I have been eating some of that!)
- Yogurt
- Eggs
All of the above foods have a relatively high rate of water used in production per kilo calorie (Source: Waterfootprint.org). I am a vegetarian so that is why meat products are not on my list despite their very high water footprint. So far, the biggest challenge has been finding adequate protein sources, but fortunately tofu and pulses (black beans, lentils, etc.) are relatively water – friendly (Sources: Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2010), Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011)).
Thanksgiving posed a particular challenge in finding a meal that was water footprint friendly; my typical turkey substitute of choice is a savory cheddar and peanut loaf (a bit odd, yes, but delicious with vegetable gravy and mashed potatoes!).
I found a nut free, vegan dish to try instead: these delicious Salisbury “Steak” Meatballs from one of my favorite recipe blogs, Connoisseurus Veg. They use chickpeas as a base and they are super affordable and easy to whip up. I paired them with mashed potatoes, vegetable gravy, roast yam, cranberry sauce and vegetarian friendly stuffing for a great Thanksgiving meal.
Reducing Our Food's Water Footprint 