Understanding Water Use in Food Production
Join us in exploring how water use in food production connects to sustainability, supply chains and the environmental impact of the food we eat!
Every year, World Water Day highlights one of the most fundamental resources behind the global food system. Water.
Every ingredient we cook with depends on water somewhere along its journey. From growing crops and raising livestock to processing, packaging and transport, freshwater is essential to producing the food that ultimately reaches our kitchens.
Yet water often receives far less attention than carbon emissions in sustainability conversations. While carbon is critical to understanding climate impact, water remains equally important in understanding the wider environmental systems that support food production.
At United Fresh, our Footprints initiative helps our clients understand the carbon impact of their orders. The data behind Footprints is calculated using lifecycle assessment methodology through our sustainability partner Klimato.
While Footprints focuses specifically on carbon emissions, lifecycle science also highlights the wider environmental resources involved in food production. Water is one of the most important.
Understanding how water is used in food production helps build a more complete picture of the environmental systems that underpin the global food supply.
Why water matters in the global food system!
Agriculture is the largest user of freshwater globally. Producing the food we rely on every day requires water at every stage of the supply chain.
Crops require water to grow. Livestock production depends on water for feed crops and animal care. Water is also used during food processing, cleaning and preparation.
Because of this, water use is closely connected to many of the wider sustainability challenges facing the food system today. Water availability, climate change, land use and biodiversity are all linked within the same agricultural systems.
Understanding water use therefore helps build a deeper understanding of the environmental impact of food production.
For chefs, procurement teams and sustainability professionals across foodservice, this broader perspective is becoming increasingly important.
How is water use measured in our Footprints data?
Within the lifecycle data used for United Fresh’s Footprints project, water use is measured as the volume of freshwater consumed during the production of food.
In the Klimato methodology, water use values are reported in cubic metres of water per kilogram of product produced.
This approach follows the Water Footprint method developed by the Water Footprint Network, one of the most widely recognised frameworks for understanding water use within agriculture and food systems.
By applying this methodology across food ingredients, researchers can estimate the freshwater resources associated with producing different types of food.
The three types of water used in food production:
To better understand how water is used, the methodology separates freshwater into three categories.
Green water – Refers to rainfall that is stored naturally in soil and used by plants as they grow. For many crops, this rainwater provides the majority of the water required during production.
Blue water – Comes from surface and groundwater sources such as rivers, lakes and aquifers. This water is often used for irrigation or during processing.
Grey water – Represents the amount of freshwater needed to dilute pollutants created during production so that water quality standards can be maintained.
Looking at these three categories together helps scientists understand the total freshwater demand associated with producing food.
Why this actually matters for foodservice?!
For the foodservice sector, sustainability is increasingly moving from ambition to measurement.
Organisations are being asked to understand the environmental impact of the food they purchase, particularly within supply chains where much of that impact occurs.
Carbon transparency is an important part of this. Through Footprints, we areĀ helping clients gain clearer insight into the carbon footprint of their orders using lifecycle data from Klimato.
At the same time, research into water use highlights the wider environmental resources that support the food system.
World Water Day serves as a reminder that the ingredients used in kitchens every day depend on natural systems far beyond the plate.
Understanding those systems is an important step toward building a more transparent and responsible food supply chain.
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