What Are You Willing to Pay to Eat?

Even if you don’t live in California, you should be concerned about California’s current drought situation. California’s $44.7 billion agriculture industry is poised to take a big hit which will impact your food budget as you shop for foods that are water-intensive to produce.  Why does this matter to you? California is the leading source of agriculture in the nation.

The Huffington Post graphic, “Why California’s Drought Makes Your Tomatoes So Expensive,” shows that one gallon of milk requires 880 gallons of water to produce.  A pound of potatoes? 119 gallons of water. A loaf of bread requires 228 gallons. A pound of beef requires a whopping 1,799 gallons of water to produce.

Statistics like this are frightening.  Some may decide to limit or eliminate beef consumption. Others may explore options for fruits and vegetables closer to home at their local farm stand instead of a grocery store.  And as communities and states explore alternatives for finding enough water for human consumption, the quality of water sources may become questionable.

Are you willing to get your hands dirty? An alternative to buying fruits and vegetables that are grown in and shipped from drought-stricken areas is to grow your own.  And to maintain the fertility of your garden’s ecosystem, consider adding a Multipure Aquagrow dechlorinating filter to your garden.  The Aquagrow keeps your plants healthier by removing the chlorine that kills beneficial microorganisms in your garden soil.