What Is Our Audit? People are familiar with the basics of sustainable food. That it is better to buy from local sources, and even better if you can cultivate your own garden. Sustainable food is not only healthy for our bodies but for the environment-which makes it so important. However, what often goes overlooked is the "water foot print" caused by a majority of the foods we consume everyday. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, agriculture withdraws over 70% of our freshwater and as our population continues to increase, it is predicted that 60% more food will be needed. Freshwater is not an endless resource, which is why my environmental team decided to look at sustainable food through the perspective of water usage. We wanted to see how our community was tackling the issue of food sustainability; we analyzed how much water went into the production of several food items from Napa Valley Unified School District September 2019 menu, and used that data for our audit. From this menu we chose three main types of protein that consistently reappeared throughout the month, beef in hamburgers, chicken in tacos, and beans in veggie burgers. With this information we then estimated how many gallons of water it takes to produce one pound of beef, chicken, and beans. Next, we found out how many students at New Technology High School currently ate school lunches. According to U.S.News.org, 35% of the student body does, which translates into 141 students. Once we had this information, we hit a wall; Napa Valley Unified School District does not provide the nutrition facts of their school menus. After several failed phone calls to the Food and Service department at the district, we used the data provided by Self.Com to find the average amount of chicken, beef, and beans are in these meals. It is important to note that Self.com collects its information from various restaurants such as Taco Bell and Del Taco and does not provide just one average of each food. Our Findings Water consumption: We then found the average amounts of grams of beef, chicken, and beans in our three meals and their protein content. Portions: Total Amount of Water Used What do others do? More initiative needs to be taken when it comes to water conservation. Local college Stanford uses water for irrigation from their lands own sources. Though that differs from school the water production that goes int the ingredients in our school lunches, it still is an example of a school nearby finding sustainable ways to “use” water. Nature itself has a method for conserving water. Soil acts as a sponge, and retains water, wasting little as possible. With this in mind it begs the question, how can we do our part? What can we do? The reason why our team chose to look at the protein content in chicken, beef, and beans is to show that whichever out of three uses the most water, there were two alternatives, that still contained a fair amount of protein. From our findings beef uses the most water in its production, with a shocking 4,600 gallons. Our hope is that the Napa Valley Unified School District can look towards other sources of protein, while not taking part in consuming a product that uses so much water. However small it may seem, each action like this, is a step towards sustainable eating. Sources: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.harvesth2o.com/Conserving-Water-By-Mimicking-Mother-Nature.shtml (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nvusd.k12.ca.us/lunchmenus Chief. (2017, May 31). 40 important ways that colleges are conserving water. Retrieved from https://www.mnn.com/money/green-workplace/stories/40-important-ways-that-colleges-are-conserving-water Rankings, N. (n.d.). The Student Body at New Technology High in Napa, CA. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/napa-valley-unified/new-technology-high-2860/student-body Water for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. Rome, 2017, pp. 1–38, Water for Sustainable Food and Agriculture.
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