Foods With the Largest Environmental Impact

[hunter]

12. The beef / nuts water comparison is misleading.

Beef can be raised where there are no shortages of water. Nuts such as almonds and pistachios are grown in more arid environments, similar to those in which they were originally domesticated.

Dairy and beef feedlot operations in arid environments are very water intensive. The crops used to feed the cattle (alfalfa, etc.) require more water than nuts, and worse, intense dairy and beef production contaminates what water there is.

The filthy beef and dairy industry wants you to imagine happy cows grazing on green hillsides. That's not the reality for most of the beef or dairy products at the market. Of course the industry would rather you not drink almond milk. But almonds do have the smaller environmental footprint, especially if the meat or dairy products you consume are sourced from high intensity meat and dairy operations in arid places.