Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages  (Read 1480 times)

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« on: April 07, 2015, 10:12:29 am »
It looks like beer is not as water intensive as feared. I don't know if the water for the hops and Barley are in this, but those are mostly not grown in CA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html?fb_action_ids=10206649863871696&fb_action_types=og.shares

Saw this on the book of face, John Palmer.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline pete b

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4134
  • Barre, Ma
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2015, 12:40:22 pm »
It looks like beer is not as water intensive as feared. I don't know if the water for the hops and Barley are in this, but those are mostly not grown in CA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html?fb_action_ids=10206649863871696&fb_action_types=og.shares

Saw this on the book of face, John Palmer.
Good info. Obviously meat is a huge problem but I would like to point our that its not meat that's the problem but factory farming. A small local farm produces much better meat using a very minimal amount of water and fossil fuels. The production of feed for factory farms uses most of the resources.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2015, 12:52:00 pm »
It looks like beer is not as water intensive as feared. I don't know if the water for the hops and Barley are in this, but those are mostly not grown in CA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html?fb_action_ids=10206649863871696&fb_action_types=og.shares

Saw this on the book of face, John Palmer.
Good info. Obviously meat is a huge problem but I would like to point our that its not meat that's the problem but factory farming. A small local farm produces much better meat using a very minimal amount of water and fossil fuels. The production of feed for factory farms uses most of the resources.

Do you know that the largest cattle ranch in the US, measured by head of cattle, is in Central Florida? Cows eat grass and there is more grass there due to more rain. Feed lots will feed cattle corn before they are sent to market.

So I wonder if the circle size in the graphic accounts for all of the water used in the growing of food?
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline pete b

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4134
  • Barre, Ma
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2015, 12:58:40 pm »
It looks like beer is not as water intensive as feared. I don't know if the water for the hops and Barley are in this, but those are mostly not grown in CA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html?fb_action_ids=10206649863871696&fb_action_types=og.shares

Saw this on the book of face, John Palmer.
Good info. Obviously meat is a huge problem but I would like to point our that its not meat that's the problem but factory farming. A small local farm produces much better meat using a very minimal amount of water and fossil fuels. The production of feed for factory farms uses most of the resources.

Do you know that the largest cattle ranch in the US, measured by head of cattle, is in Central Florida? Cows eat grass and there is more grass there due to more rain. Feed lots will feed cattle corn before they are sent to market.

So I wonder if the circle size in the graphic accounts for all of the water used in the growing of food?
I'm pretty sure it does include the growing of food. I think I have read that about 75% of the water used for factory raised animals is in the growing of corn/soy etc. for feed. Pasture raised beef that eats silage in the winter are using way less water.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2015, 01:16:59 pm »
It looks like beer is not as water intensive as feared. I don't know if the water for the hops and Barley are in this, but those are mostly not grown in CA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-water-hungry-foods-20150406-story.html?fb_action_ids=10206649863871696&fb_action_types=og.shares

Saw this on the book of face, John Palmer.
Good info. Obviously meat is a huge problem but I would like to point our that its not meat that's the problem but factory farming. A small local farm produces much better meat using a very minimal amount of water and fossil fuels. The production of feed for factory farms uses most of the resources.

Do you know that the largest cattle ranch in the US, measured by head of cattle, is in Central Florida? Cows eat grass and there is more grass there due to more rain. Feed lots will feed cattle corn before they are sent to market.

So I wonder if the circle size in the graphic accounts for all of the water used in the growing of food?
I'm pretty sure it does include the growing of food. I think I have read that about 75% of the water used for factory raised animals is in the growing of corn/soy etc. for feed. Pasture raised beef that eats silage in the winter are using way less water.

Here is an interesting tidbit.
"According to previous research, it takes 226 more days for grass-finished cattle to reach market
weight than grain-finished cattle. More days on grass may mean greater environmental impact. For
example, compared to grass-fed beef, grain-fed beef uses 76 percent less water."
http://www.explorebeef.org/cmdocs/explorebeef/fact_sheet_beef%20and%20water%20use.pdf


Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline pete b

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4134
  • Barre, Ma
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2015, 01:32:48 pm »

Here is an interesting tidbit.
"According to previous research, it takes 226 more days for grass-finished cattle to reach market
weight than grain-finished cattle. More days on grass may mean greater environmental impact. For
example, compared to grass-fed beef, grain-fed beef uses 76 percent less water."
http://www.explorebeef.org/cmdocs/explorebeef/fact_sheet_beef%20and%20water%20use.pdf
Looks like industry propaganda. Farmers don't water their pastures so it must count rainwater. I think most agree that man-made irrigation has a different impact than rain. Also it probably doesn't take into account best practices of well managed small farms: they are rotating their herd on pastures and not applying chemicals. Factory farming relies on growing corn and soy with huge amounts of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, clean cutting the fields leaving bare earth, then trucking that to feed lots where the cattle get antibiotics to counter act diseases caused by eating grains which they are not evolved to do and living in their own filth. 
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2015, 02:34:01 pm »

Here is an interesting tidbit.
"According to previous research, it takes 226 more days for grass-finished cattle to reach market
weight than grain-finished cattle. More days on grass may mean greater environmental impact. For
example, compared to grass-fed beef, grain-fed beef uses 76 percent less water."
http://www.explorebeef.org/cmdocs/explorebeef/fact_sheet_beef%20and%20water%20use.pdf
Looks like industry propaganda. Farmers don't water their pastures so it must count rainwater. I think most agree that man-made irrigation has a different impact than rain. Also it probably doesn't take into account best practices of well managed small farms: they are rotating their herd on pastures and not applying chemicals. Factory farming relies on growing corn and soy with huge amounts of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, clean cutting the fields leaving bare earth, then trucking that to feed lots where the cattle get antibiotics to counter act diseases caused by eating grains which they are not evolved to do and living in their own filth.

In my part of the country, corn and soybeans are what they call "dry farmed" in the west, i.e. no irrigation.

Factory farms are not pretty. I agree on that.

Edit - this was about the water usage of beer.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2015, 02:36:01 pm by hopfenundmalz »
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline pete b

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4134
  • Barre, Ma
Re: Water to a Grow Food and Make Beverages
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2015, 02:56:41 pm »

Here is an interesting tidbit.
"According to previous research, it takes 226 more days for grass-finished cattle to reach market
weight than grain-finished cattle. More days on grass may mean greater environmental impact. For
example, compared to grass-fed beef, grain-fed beef uses 76 percent less water."
http://www.explorebeef.org/cmdocs/explorebeef/fact_sheet_beef%20and%20water%20use.pdf

Looks like industry propaganda. Farmers don't water their pastures so it must count rainwater. I think most agree that man-made irrigation has a different impact than rain. Also it probably doesn't take into account best practices of well managed small farms: they are rotating their herd on pastures and not applying chemicals. Factory farming relies on growing corn and soy with huge amounts of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides, clean cutting the fields leaving bare earth, then trucking that to feed lots where the cattle get antibiotics to counter act diseases caused by eating grains which they are not evolved to do and living in their own filth.

In my part of the country, corn and soybeans are what they call "dry farmed" in the west, i.e. no irrigation.

Factory farms are not pretty. I agree on that.

Edit - this was about the water usage of beer.
That's good anyway. Factory Farming is one of the few things I can get really pissed about so sorry if this all seemed a bit charged. Its just that its lose-lose-lose for everyone but the handful of big companies that make a killing. The animals are treated cruelly, the ones doing the actual work are treated poorly, its an environmental disaster, and the end product is, while cheap, unhealthy tasteless crap. And the cheap price isn't the real cost: its paid for by taxpayer's subsidies on corn and soybeans.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline pete b

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4134
  • Barre, Ma
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.