What is the expected change in agricultural water consumption if beef is replaced by mycoprotein?

• A. There would likely be only a small change in agricultural water consumption.
• B. It would cause a large decrease in water use.
• C. It would require substantial increases in water use.
• D. Water use would remain exactly the same.

Answer: (A)

The question tests how changes in the type of protein people eat affect the overall water used in farming. Beef has a high water footprint per unit of protein because it relies heavily on water for feed crops and pasture. But the total agricultural water use across a population also depends on many other crops and livestock, not just beef. Even if beef’s water intensity is high, beef itself may represent only a portion of total agricultural water use in many contexts. So replacing beef with mycoprotein would improve water efficiency on a per-unit-protein basis, but the overall agricultural water consumption would not drop dramatically unless the substitution were very large and widespread across many foods.

In short, you’d expect some water savings, but not a dramatic change in total agricultural water use, because other agricultural needs still require substantial water and the scale of substitution would limit the net impact.