Water Shortage in Chennai Prompts Pro-Vegan PETA India Billboard

“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 reputed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America – on a brand-new PETA India billboard that just went up in Chennai, where residents are struggling to cope with a devastating water shortage.

Between watering the crops that farmed animals eat, providing billions of animals with drinking water each year, and cleaning away the filth from farms, trucks, and slaughterhouses, the meat, egg, and dairy industries put 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 it takes 1,020 litres of water to produce 1 litre of cows’ milk, 3,265 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of eggs, and 15,415 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of beef.

The meat, egg, and dairy industries also use one-third of the world’s cropland – which could be dedicated to feeding hungry humans but instead is used to grow food for animals bred and raised to be exploited and killed. Animal agriculture is also responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than is the transportation sector worldwide.

The best way to follow an eco- and animal-friendly lifestyle is to go vegan: