Our beloved earth is gasping. Words like greenhouse effect and climate change are now part of our daily vocabulary.
Water, the most precious commodity that gives us life, is in short supply in many areas of the planet, and this trend is growing. According to a 2007 FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) study and the 2016 Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry document entitled ‘Grain legumes’, it takes about 13,000 litres to produce one kilogram of grain-fed beef, while producing 1 kg of peas or lentils requires an average of only 50 litres of water.
In the light of these figures, it is clear that if we want to safeguard the planet and its future, change also comes through our food choices. Of course it is not enough, but it is certainly a first step we can take now.
At this point, we have tried to make an estimate of how much water we consumed to produce our vegetable lentil ragout, and how much we would have consumed if we had produced the same amount of product with the traditional recipe, i.e. using minced beef.
Of course, this is an absolutely indicative estimate and is affected by numerous inaccuracies, but the figure we have derived is absolutely astonishing. If we consume a jar of 190 grams of Raguvè instead of a jar of the same amount of traditional ragu, we save around 500 litres of water! 500 litres of water saved for a paltry yet appetising 3-portion jar of sauce.
