ABSTRACT
The supply chain of meat and dairy starts with feed crop cultivation and ends with the consumer (Figure 4.1). In each step of the chain there is a direct water footprint, which refers to the water consumption in that step, but also an indirect water footprint, which refers to the water consumption in the previous steps. The water footprint of meat and dairy as you buy it in the shop should be understood as the sum of the various sorts of water consumption and pollution along the supply chain. It includes water use at the retailer and the food processor, but the water use in these stages is very small compared to the water use in the agricultural stage. Besides, one should keep in mind that the water use of retailers and food processors is to be distributed over all products being sold, so that the relative small water footprints of those players become even smaller per unit of product. Most water consumption and pollution is thus in the agricultural stage. The water footprint of an animal at the end of its lifetime can be calculated based on the water footprint of all feed consumed during its lifetime and the volumes of water consumed for drinking and for example cleaning the stables. One will have to know the age of the animal when slaughtered and the diet of the animal during its various stages of life. The water footprint of the animal as a whole is allocated to the different products that are derived from the animal. This allocation is done on the basis of the relative values of the various animal products, as can be calculated from the market prices of the different products. The allocation is done such that there is no double counting and that the largest shares of the total water input are assigned to the high-value products and smaller shares to the low-value products.
