What About Water? with Jay Famiglietti

Growing Food in Dry Times: Drought in the West


Listen Later

It’s no surprise growing food uses lots of water.

One cow needs anywhere from 3 to 30 L of water a day. It takes 3200 L of water to grow one pound of lentils.

In this episode we ask, what do we do when there's not enough water to feed our food?

Here in Canada, 2021 made history as prairie farmers experienced one of the worst droughts western North America has seen in the last 1,200 years. After three years of reduced precipitation, prolonged dry spells change everything from the crops we’re able to grow, right down to the cost of the food on our plates. 

In this episode, we hear from Merle Massie and Reg Lowe -- Saskatchewan farmers who are experiencing the impact of drought and unpredictable precipitation firsthand.

Jay talks with Leon Kochian, Associate Director of the Global Institute for Food Security, about the 'root' of the problem. We look at how far science has come in breeding drought-resistant crops to help farmers adapt to both floods and water scarcity, and at where it's headed as we try to feed an ever-expanding human population.

 

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

What About Water? with Jay FamigliettiBy Jay Famiglietti

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

35 ratings


More shows like What About Water? with Jay Famiglietti

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,074 Listeners

Living on Earth by World Media Foundation

Living on Earth

465 Listeners

Ideas by CBC

Ideas

391 Listeners

Quirks and Quarks by CBC

Quirks and Quarks

371 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,055 Listeners

The Common Descent Podcast by Common Descent

The Common Descent Podcast

698 Listeners

In Defense of Plants Podcast by In Defense of Plants

In Defense of Plants Podcast

1,220 Listeners

Ologies with Alie Ward by Alie Ward

Ologies with Alie Ward

23,603 Listeners

All Things Sustainable by S&P Global

All Things Sustainable

56 Listeners

Native Plants, Healthy Planet by Pinelands Nursery, Bleav

Native Plants, Healthy Planet

292 Listeners

The Climate Question by BBC World Service

The Climate Question

172 Listeners

Completely Arbortrary by Completely Arbortrary

Completely Arbortrary

1,210 Listeners

Volts by David Roberts

Volts

585 Listeners

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens by Nate Hagens

The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

388 Listeners

Zero: The Climate Race by Bloomberg

Zero: The Climate Race

194 Listeners