California Water "Meat, Dairy and Eggs Tax" (fee)

This is a proposal for a ‘Water Consumption Tax’ when purchasing meat, dairy and eggs. A person consuming meat, dairy and eggs is responsible for massive amounts of water usage for the production of the animal products, far more than a person living a plant based lifestyle. In some cities, households are limited to only 50 gallons of water usage per person a day and fined if they exceed that amount. The same should apply to omnivores who eat animal products without consequence for the water crisis. The standard diet of a person in the United States requires 4,200 gallons of water per day (for animals’ drinking water, irrigation of crops, processing, washing, cooking, etc.). A person on a vegan diet requires only 300 gallons a day. It takes approximately 660 gallons of water to produce one quarter pound hamburger patty. At those numbers, it takes 2640 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. Using that estimate it would take 6,600,000 gallons of water to produce one ton of beef; which would be equivalent to filling a 40 gallon bathtub 165,000 times. It is time for people who are consuming animal products to pull their own weight and to start being responsible for their impact to California's water crisis.