Water

Water is Life. Water is Food. Leave No-one Behind.

This is the bold statement for this year’s World Food Day on 16th October – the anniversary of the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

As changes in the climate and degradation of ecosystems put increasing pressure on water availability for food and farming globally, it is time to stop taking water for granted.

What is our response here in Lincoln to the global challenges around water?

While it is nonsensical to transfer responsibility for complex, systemic problems onto “the consumer” there are nonetheless choices that we can make as households and communities to play a part. 

The good news is, they align very well with a healthy, diverse and delicious diet!

Eat with the seasons:

Foods grown and eaten in season require less water. Fresh foods also generally require less water than ultra-processed foods. 

Veg box schemes go a long way in helping us to access seasonal fruit and veg:

• Middle World Farm CSA in Washingborough – from £11.40/week incl delivery – 07557521013 – middleworldfarms.org/veg-box
• Nathan Willows veg boxes from £15 – myfresh.delivery/delivery-boxes (or from shop on Sudbrook Drive)
• Lincolnshire organic veg box, veg box from £13.25 incl delivery – edenfarms.co.uk
• Sharpes offer home grown from roadside shop on the A158, 8 miles out of Lincoln open Thur, Fri, Sat – 07342 659020

Eat nuts and pulses:

Nuts and pulses require a fraction of the water to produce than other forms of protein, as well as having lower land- and carbon footprints, and being highly nutritious and adding diversity to our diets.

Refill shops allow us to avoid pollution of single use plastics, and to buy the quantity we need, avoiding waste:

• Forage & Fill – The Strait, Lincoln
• Lincoln Eco Pantry – Bailgate, Lincoln

Or order online, for UK grown pulses

• hodmedods.co.uk

Reduce food waste:

Farming and food production take a lot of water.

• Buy what you need – and be mindful that supermarkets work hard to encourage us to over-purchase; 
• Make good use of leftovers, and compost your vegetable waste; 
• Support organisations that divert “surplus” food from landfill, such as Mint Lane Cafe and Lincoln Community Grocery. (If you can, please donate to these projects, too.) 
• Check out Mint Lane’s Whole Meals, that prevent “surplus” bulk food from going to waste by turning it into homemade frozen ready meals.

Don’t pollute water:

Keep aquatic ecosystems healthy. 

• Avoid pouring milk, oils, food waste, medicines or chemicals down the drain.
• One of the main culprits of river pollution is intensive animal farming: swapping intensively produced pork and chicken for beans and pulses is good for your gut as well as the planet.
• If you want or need to eat meat, go for a less-and-better approach, for example talk to farmer Hannah from Inkpot Farm at the monthly farmers market on Burton Road, or Redhill on the Bailgate. 

This is published in the October 2023 edition of the Lincoln Independent