Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29100, Piacenza, Italy.
Resource Valorization lab, Department for Sustainability, ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123, Rome, Italy.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Aug 1;291:112687. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112687. Epub 2021 Apr 29.
A deep understanding of the water-food nexus it is of a paramount importance as an avenue for sustainable development. Water forms the foundation for food production and a sustainable use of this resource is essential to guarantee the long-term productivity and to build resilient capacity in food and agricultural systems. Here we present methodological challenges regarding different water footprint (WF) methods applied to different dietary scenarios. The volumetric WF of three theoretical but realistic dietary patterns has been quantified (Omnivorous(O), Vegetarian(V) and Vegan(VG)), by means of the Water Footprint Network methodology. Moreover, the AWARE methodology is applied to assess potential impacts of water use trough the Water Scarcity Footprint (WSF). Diets are set to integrate and consider different drivers for food consumption encompassing the social value of the Mediterranean diet, healthy diet recommendations, food preferences of Italian consumers and the trade dimension of foodstuffs. In terms of volumetric WF, the O diet is the most water intensive one accounting for 2800 L/capita/day. A shift from an O to a V and VG diets allows to reduce the volumetric WF respectively 10% and 14%. Green water consumption accounts for the largest share (85%) in all three scenarios. Considering the WSF, V healthy diet is similar to the VG resulting in 11,069 and 11,130 L HOeq/capita/day respectively, whereas the O diet resulted in 11,932 L HOeq/capita/day. A sensitivity analysis was performed by changing each food category, one at a time, to its maximum and minimum value, in order to evaluate the significance of changes in the volumetric WF and WSF as well as the variables that mostly contribute to them. Results show that the volumetric WF associated with V and VG diets consumption overlay the O diet in respectively 53.5% and 35.7% of runs, while overlapping is improved comparing WSFs results. In this case, the WSFs of V and VG diets overlay the O diet in 83.5% of runs, suggesting that the alternative dietary scenarios would have little effect on the overall WSF and that the results are particularly sensitive to the different countries of importation. Results demonstrate the need to consider both volumetric WF and WSF with particular attention to trade analysis in order to support the development of new policies with the aim to foster sustainable consumption patterns, while preserving water resources.
深入理解水-粮食关系至关重要，因为它是可持续发展的途径。水是粮食生产的基础，可持续利用这一资源对于保证粮食和农业系统的长期生产力和建设弹性能力至关重要。在这里，我们提出了不同水足迹（WF）方法应用于不同饮食情景所面临的方法学挑战。通过水足迹网络方法，对三种理论但现实的饮食模式（杂食性（O）、素食（V）和纯素食（VG））的体积水足迹进行了量化。此外，应用 AWARE 方法评估通过水稀缺足迹（WSF）用水的潜在影响。饮食设定为整合和考虑不同的食物消费驱动因素，包括地中海饮食的社会价值、健康饮食建议、意大利消费者的食物偏好以及食物的贸易维度。在体积水足迹方面，O 饮食是最耗水的，人均每天 2800 升。从 O 饮食向 V 和 VG 饮食的转变分别可以减少体积水足迹 10%和 14%。绿水消费占所有三种情景的最大份额（85%）。考虑到 WSF，V 健康饮食与 VG 相似，分别为 11069 和 11130 L HOeq/人/天，而 O 饮食为 11932 L HOeq/人/天。通过一次改变一个食物类别到其最大值和最小值，进行了敏感性分析，以评估体积水足迹和 WSF 的变化以及对它们贡献最大的变量的意义。结果表明，V 和 VG 饮食消费的体积水足迹在 53.5%和 35.7%的运行中超过了 O 饮食，而在比较 WSF 结果时，重叠情况得到了改善。在这种情况下，V 和 VG 饮食的 WSF 在 83.5%的运行中超过了 O 饮食，这表明替代饮食情景对总体 WSF 的影响很小，并且结果对不同的进口国特别敏感。结果表明，需要特别注意贸易分析，同时考虑体积水足迹和 WSF，以支持制定新政策，旨在促进可持续消费模式，同时保护水资源。
