Water Crisis Prompts Pro-Vegan PETA India Billboard in Bengaluru Ahead of World Water Day

“Raising Animals for Meat, Eggs, and Milk Uses Up 1/3 of the World’s Fresh Water. Go Vegan.” This is the message – based on the findings presented in a paper published by the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America – on a PETA India billboard that went up in Bengaluru recently as the city deals with its worst water crisis in decades.

Koramangala BDA Complex bus stop, near Sony World Junction, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Between watering the crops that farmed animals eat, providing billions of animals with drinking water each year, and cleaning the filth from farms, trucks, and slaughterhouses, animal agriculture puts a serious strain on the world’s water supply. According to the Water Footprint Network, it takes just 322 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of vegetables – but 1020 litres to produce 1 kilogram of cows’ milk, 3265 litres to produce 1 kilogram of eggs, and 15,415 litres to produce 1 kilogram of beef.

The meat, egg, and dairy industries also use one-third of the world’s cropland – which could be used to grow food for hungry humans but is instead dedicated to crops that feed animals deliberately bred and raised to be used and killed. By some estimates, animal agriculture is also responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s transportation systems combined.