餅干、啤酒或牛肉：哪種最需要水?

Our diets can have a big environmental impact. The greenhouse gas emissions involved in producing and transporting various foods has been well researched, but have you ever thought about the water-scarcity impacts of producing your favourite foods? The answers may surprise you.

我們的飲食會對環(huán)境產(chǎn)生很大的影響。人們對生產(chǎn)和運輸各種食品所涉及的溫室氣體排放進(jìn)行了深入的研究，但你是否想過生產(chǎn)你最喜歡的食物會對水資源短缺產(chǎn)生影響?答案可能會讓你吃驚。

In research recently published in the journal Nutrients, we looked at the water scarcity footprints of the diets of 9,341 adult Australians, involving more than 5,000 foods. We measured both the amount of water used to produce a food, and whether water was scarce or abundant at the location it was drawn from.

在最近發(fā)表在《營養(yǎng)》雜志上的一項研究中，我們觀察了9341名澳大利亞成年人飲食中的缺水足跡，涉及5000多種食物。我們測量了生產(chǎn)食物所需的水量，以及水的來源地是稀缺還是豐富。

The food system accounts for around 70 percent of global freshwater use. This means a concerted effort to minimise the water used to produce our food - while ensuring our diets remained healthy - would have a big impact in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

糧食系統(tǒng)約占全球淡水使用量的70%。這意味著，在確保我們的飲食保持健康的同時，齊心協(xié)力將用于生產(chǎn)食物的水降至最低，這將對澳大利亞產(chǎn)生重大影響。澳大利亞是地球上最干燥的有人居住的大陸。

Biscuits, beer or beef: which takes the most water to produce?

餅干、啤酒或牛肉：哪種最需要水?

We found the average Australian's diet had a water-scarcity footprint of 362 litres per day. It was slightly lower for women and lower for adults over 71 years of age.

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，澳大利亞人的日常飲食中，平均每天有362升的缺水足跡。女性和71歲以上的成年人略低。

A water-scarcity footprint consists of two elements: the litres of water used, multiplied by a weighting depending on whether water scarcity at the source is higher or lower than the global average.

缺水足跡包括兩個要素:用水量的升數(shù)，乘以一個取決于缺水程度是高于還是低于全球平均水平的權(quán)重。

Foods with some of the highest water-scarcity footprints were almonds (3,448 litres/kg), dried apricots (3,363 litres/kg) and breakfast cereal made from puffed rice (1,464 litres/kg).

缺水足跡最高的食物有杏仁(3448升/公斤)、杏干(3363升/公斤)和膨化大米制成的早餐麥片(1464升/公斤)。

In contrast, foods with some of the smallest water-scarcity footprint included wholemeal bread (11.3 litres/kg), oats (23.4 litres/kg), and soaked chickpeas (5.9 litres/kg).

相比之下，缺水足跡最小的食物包括全麥面包(11.3升/公斤)、燕麥(23.4升/公斤)和浸泡過的鷹嘴豆(5.9升/公斤)。

It may surprise you that of the 9,000 diets studied, 25 percent of the water scarcity footprint came from discretionary foods and beverages such as cakes, biscuits, sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol. They included a glass of wine (41 litres), a single serve of potato crisps (23 litres), and a small bar of milk chocolate (21 litres).

在所研究的9000種飲食中，25%的缺水足跡來自可自由支配的食物和飲料，如蛋糕、餅干、加糖飲料和酒精。其中包括一杯葡萄酒(41升)、一份薯片(23升)和一小塊牛奶巧克力(21升)。

These foods don't only add to our waistlines, but also our water-scarcity footprint. Previous studies have also shown these foods contribute around 30 percent of dietary greenhouse gas emissions in Australia.

這些食物不僅增加了我們的腰圍，還增加了我們的缺水足跡。先前的研究也表明，這些食物在澳大利亞的飲食中造成了大約30%的溫室氣體排放。

The second highest food group in terms of contributing to water-scarcity was fruit, at 19 percent. This includes whole fruit and fresh (not sugar-sweetened) juices. It should be remembered that fruit is an essential part of a healthy diet, and generally Australians need to consume more fruit to meet recommendations.

在造成缺水足跡方面排名第二的食物是水果，占19%。包括整個水果和新鮮(不加糖的)果汁。你要記住，水果是健康飲食的重要組成部分，一般澳大利亞人需要攝入更多的水果來滿足建議。

Dairy products and alternatives (including non-dairy beverages made from soy, rice and nuts) came in third and bread and cereals ranked fourth.

乳制品和替代品(包括由大豆、大米和堅果制成的非乳飲料)排名第三，面包和谷類食品排名第四。

The consumption of red meat - beef and lamb - contributed only 3.7 percent of the total dietary water-scarcity footprint. These results suggest that eating fresh meat is less important to water scarcity than most other food groups, even cereals.

食用紅肉(牛肉和羊肉)只占總膳食缺水足跡的3.7%。這些結(jié)果表明，吃新鮮肉對缺水的重要性比大多數(shù)其他食物組都要小，即使是谷類食物。

Not surprisingly, cutting out discretionary foods would be number one priority if you wanted to lower the water footprint of the food you eat, as well as the greenhouse gas emissions of production.

毫不奇怪，如果你想降低食物的水足跡以及生產(chǎn)過程中的溫室氣體排放，那么減少可自由支配的食物將是首要任務(wù)。

Over-consumption of discretionary foods is also closely linked to weight gain and obesity. Eating a variety of healthy foods, according to energy needs, is a helpful motto.

過量食用非必需食品也與體重增加和肥胖密切相關(guān)。根據(jù)能量需要，吃各種健康食品是一個有益的座右銘。