The improvement of the sustainability of global food systems is a top priority. Many efforts have targeted the production side, yet managing food consumption demand, i.e., people’s eating habits, might deliver important co-benefits from a land, water, and energy perspective. This paper focuses on assessing the water-related implications of food consumption and waste among Spanish consumers to discern possible policy recommendations. Specifically, we estimated the water footprint (WF) of the diet and associated food waste of Spanish households from October 2014 to September 2015, broken down by WF component (green, blue and grey) and its geographical origin. Our results showed that, for the analyzed period, the WF of food consumption in Spain is 52,933 hm3, equivalent to 3302 liters per person and day. The consumptive fraction (green + blue water) of this diet-related WF accounts for 89%, while the remaining 11% (127 m3 per person/year) is attributed to water quality impacts (grey water). The products that account for the largest share in the total WF are meat, fish and animal fats (26%) and dairy products (21%). Likewise, roughly 41% of the total WF linked to household diets is foreign, i.e., imported virtual water, and the main countries of origin are Tunisia, Portugal, and France. The WF of food waste accounts for 2095 hm3, equivalent to 131 liters per person and day. From a policy perspective, several studies have highlighted that high water savings can be achieved by reducing food waste; in Spain, however, eliminating food waste at household level would reduce the Spanish food-related WF by only 4% (292 hm3 of blue water and 1555 hm3 of green water). In the light of these results, a shift back to a Mediterranean diet, in which fruits and vegetables account for a larger share of the food intake, would deliver greater water savings.

Les économies d'eau dans les industries agro-alimentaires sont un enjeu qui conduit à une maîtrise des coûts directs et indirects (approvisionnement en eau et traitement des effluents). Si le renforcement de la réglementation conduit à une gestion raisonnée des ressources en eau soutenue par les incitations financières des Agences de l'Eau (redevance consommation et pollution), ces organismes encouragent également par l'attribution d'aides les initiatives dans ce domaine. Les démarches à suivre dans ce domaine doivent être raisonnées et favoriser les économies de la ressource notamment par la mise en place de technologies propres. Les résultats, directs ou indirects, obtenus sont généralement rapides et encourageants. Plus globalement, la recherche d'économies sur les consommations d'eau dans les industries agro-alimentaires, est très souvent le premier pas vers une maîtrise des coûts environnementaux qui s'inscrit en droite ligne dans l'optique de la mise en place d'un système de management de l'environnement

N-nitrosamines are potent carcinogens, particularly N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), which are commonly found in a variety of foods and drinking water. We calculated the food and drinking water intakes of NDMA, NDEA, and total volatile nitrosamines (TVNA) by Chinese residents in different provinces by multiplying the reported total diet study results by the nitrosamine contents in food and drinking water. The weighted content of nitrosamines in each category of foods and the concentration of nitrosamines in drinking water was obtained through literature review. The exogenous NDMA, NDEA and TVNA intakes of adult residents in 20 provinces ranged from 171 to 425 ng/d, 41 to 140 ng/d and 373 to 1028 ng/d, respectively. The main contributors to NDMA and TVNA intakes were vegetables, cereals, aquatic products, and meats while the main sources of NDEA intake were vegetables and cereals. The average total NDMA intake per capita in China (251 ng/d) was similar to that in Germany in 1991 (231 ng/d) but higher than that in the United States (136 ng/d), Canada (87.6 ng/d) and France (188 ng/d). Large differences in nitrosamine intakes were observed between the coastal provinces and inland provinces. Drinking water was estimated to contribute 13.1%, 1.3% and 10.8% of the exogenous intakes of NDMA, NDEA and TVNA, respectively. Based on our results, we recommend setting the NDMA drinking water criterion of 40 ng/L. Overall, this study presents basic information regarding nitrosamines intake via food and drinking water in China that will facilitate risk assessment, generation of health advisories and policy making.

Cet article fait le point sur l'etat actuel des connaissances en matiere de consommations d'eau pour l'irrigation en France, tres variables dans le temps et l'espace. Au cours des dix dernieres annees, les superficies irriguees ont augmente de facon importante mais variable selon les regions, malgre la reforme de la PAC. Avec 43 % de la surface irriguee, le mais reste la principale culture irriguee. La connaissance des superficies irriguees, satisfaisante sur le plan statistique, est insuffisante pour une estimation quantitative des prelevements d'eau pour l'irrigation, du fait de la variabilite importante des besoins en eau des cultures et de la meconnaissance des pratiques d'apports d'eau des irriguants. Le Cemagref [Institut de recherche pour l'ingenierie de l'agriculture et de l'environnement] a developpe une methode d'estimation a l'echelle regionale des apports d'eau d'irrigation lors d'une secheresse severe. Les besoins en eau theoriques du mais, choisi comme culture de reference, sont evalues pour les principales regions de production, a partir des donnees climatiques et des caracteristiques des sols et en tenant compte des pratiques de restriction des apports d'eau des irriguants lors d'une secheresse prolongee. Sur la base de ce travail, il est possible de proposer un dispositif de suivi et d'analyse previsionnelle de la demande en eau des agriculteurs a l'echelle regionale, de facon a mieux apprecier les risques de tensions sur la ressource, et a mettre en place des modes de gestion plus efficaces. Ce dispositif devra s'appuyer entre autres sur une meilleure connaissance des pratiques des irriguants

The dataset concerns the environmental impacts of water consumption and land use caused by 1 kg of food item supplied to two Mediterranean countries: France and Tunisia. The dataset takes into account the food items available in France and Tunisia (identified in two national dietary surveys) and their origin. Water consumption and land use surfaces were extracted from existing databases and from national data for animal feed description. Up-to-date available evaluation methods were used to assess the associated impacts. The origin of ingredients was considered to compute impacts on all countries of the world. These data were used in Perignon et al., 2019 [1].

[Departement_IRSTEA]Ecotechnologies [TR1_IRSTEA]INSPIRE [ADD1_IRSTEA]Équiper l'agriculture | The dataset concerns the environmental impacts of water consumption and land use caused by 1 kg of food item supplied to two Mediterranean countries: France and Tunisia. The dataset takes into account the food items available in France and Tunisia (identified in two national dietary surveys) and their origin. Water consumption and land use surfaces were extracted from existing databases and from national data for animal feed description. Up-to-date available evaluation methods were used to assess the associated impacts. The origin of ingredients was considered to compute impacts on all countries of the world. These data were used in Perignon et al., 2019.[1][1] M. Perignon, C. Sinfort, J. El Ati, P. Traissac, S. Drogue, N. Darmon, M.-J. Amiot (2019), the Medina Study Group How to meet nutritional recommendations and reduce diet environmental impact in the Mediterranean region? An optimization study to identify more sustainable diets in TunisiaGlobal Food Security, 23, pp. 227-235, 10.1016/j.gfs.2019.07.006

The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus for urban sustainability needs to be analyzed via an integrative rather than a sectoral or silo approach, reflecting the ongoing transition from separate infrastructure systems to an integrated social-ecological-infrastructure system. As technology hubs can provide food, energy, water resources via decentralized and/or centralized facilities, there is an acute need to optimize FEW infrastructures by considering cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs with respect to multiple sustainability indicators. This paper identifies, categorizes, and analyzes global trends with respect to contemporary FEW technology metrics that highlights the possible optimal integration of a broad spectrum of technology hubs for possible cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs. The challenges related to multiscale and multiagent modeling processes for the simulation of urban FEW systems were discussed with respect to the aspects of scaling-up, optimization process, and risk assessment. Our review reveals that this field is growing at a rapid pace and the previous selection of analytical methodologies, nexus criteria, and sustainability indicators largely depended on individual FEW nexus conditions disparately, and full-scale cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs were very rare. Therefore, the potential full-scale technology integration in three ongoing cases of urban FEW systems in Miami (the United States), Marseille (France), and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) were demonstrated in due purpose finally.

The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus for urban sustainability needs to be analyzed via an integrative rather than a sectoral or silo approach, reflecting the ongoing transition from separate infrastructure systems to an integrated social-ecological-infrastructure system. As technology hubs can provide food, energy, water resources via decentralized and/or centralized facilities, there is an acute need to optimize FEW infrastructures by considering cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs with respect to multiple sustainability indicators. This paper identifies, categorizes, and analyzes global trends with respect to contemporary FEW technology metrics that highlights the possible optimal integration of a broad spectrum of technology hubs for possible cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs. The challenges related to multiscale and multiagent modeling processes for the simulation of urban FEW systems were discussed with respect to the aspects of scaling-up, optimization process, and risk assessment. Our review reveals that this field is growing at a rapid pace and the previous selection of analytical methodologies, nexus criteria, and sustainability indicators largely depended on individual FEW nexus conditions disparately, and full-scale cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs were very rare. Therefore, the potential full-scale technology integration in three ongoing cases of urban FEW systems in Miami (the United States), Marseille (France), and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) were demonstrated in due purpose finally.