Levy taxes according to food-chain ranking so that products with the worst environmental impact cost the most. We should internalize the costs of dietary preferences. The same foods are the least healthy when consumed in excess, Pimentel notes. Growing an acre of corn to feed cattle takes 535,000 gallons of water.
Agricultural production consumes more fresh water than any other human activity.
In the western United States, the figure is about 85 percent. Worldwide, food crops are grown on 11 percent of the Earth's total fertile land area. Another 24 percent of the land is used as pasture to graze livestock for meat and milk products. Marginal land for pastures makes possible the production of meat and milk products on land unsuitable for food crops. Replacing agricultural land accounts for 60 percent of deforestation now occurring worldwide.