this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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maybe they meant meat farms. meat uses more water than apparently anyone realizes or cares about. theres material to that reality, whether its acknowledged or not.
I think almonds use an inordinate amount of water.
Less than meat. But don't just take my word for it: CA-Ag-Water-Use.pdf https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CA-Ag-Water-Use.pdf
If I look at German sources almonds and beef/pork have the following overall water demand for 1 kg product:
Almonds: 10000-15000 L/kg, beef: 15400 L/kg, pork needs apparently half of beef
That does not necessarily sound like "less than meat". Granted almonds are among the most water consuming plants. Potatoes need only 290 L/kg.
https://berlin.nabu.de/umwelt-und-ressourcen/oekologisch-leben/essen-und-trinken/32632.html https://www.landwirtschaft.de/umwelt/natur/wasser/wasserfussabdruck-wie-viel-wasser-steckt-in-landwirtschaftlichen-produkten
Yeah, but how many people are eating that meat versus those almonds.
A kg of almonds takes 3000 liters of water, so that's 1.9 calories per liter.
Near as I can tell water cost of meat ranges from 2000 l/kg for chicken to maybe 15,000 l/kg for beef. That's 0.09-0.6 calories/liter. So, 3-20x more people can eat almonds than meat.
They did the math
Where do you have the 3000 L of water for 1 kg almonds from? It is not in that paper. I read about 10000-15000L per kg almonds (here: https://berlin.nabu.de/umwelt-und-ressourcen/oekologisch-leben/essen-und-trinken/32632.html) but that was admittedly not a scientific publication.
You think they’re just growing and throwing away the almonds or something? Sheesh, people will use the stupidest most twisted logic to justify their own shitty actions.
"American meat consumption dwarfs almond consumption by over 50-fold. The average American eats over 220 pounds of meat annually, compared to just 2 pounds of almonds. While meat is a traditional dietary staple, almond consumption has surged by over 220% due to their popularity as a health snack and dairy substitute."
Those data are thrown off by Spiders Georg
It's actually insane how much water almonds use. But we'd rather do that and use water to maintain golf courses in Arizona than think about boring things like crops and food.
they do
There's a solution you don't see
well go on and share with us your wisdom then
It's called veganism.
Yup
LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS!!
oh... well yeah obviously
edit - thats what i was talking about the whole time
Aren't "meat farms" typically referred to as "ranches"?
i dont think factory farms are called ranches, regardless, i wanted to be clear.