http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1
“Peak Meat Production Strains Land and Water Resources.” Worldwatch Institute, 14 Aug. 2014, http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1.
Of all the Earth’s agricultural land, nearly 70% is used purely for animal pasture. Additionally, 10% of land is used for growing the grains needed to feed the meat and dairy livestock. The animal that requires the most resources is beef, which requires three-five times more land in order to produce the same amount of protein found in pork or chicken. The production of beef uses 3/5 of worldwide farmland but only yields less than 5% of the world’s protein.
Animal agriculture uses 70 percent of the available fresh water in the world. One third of that water goes to be used for growing the grain which feeds the livestock. Beef requires a significantly higher amount of water compared to all other meats. “More than 15,000 liters of water used per kilogram is far more than is required by a number of staple foods, such as rice (3,400 liters per kg), eggs (3,300 liters), milk (1,000 liters), or potatoes (255 liters).”
Cici's Capstone 