Prince Charles: Americans Jeopardizing Water Supply Because of Too Much Steak

Prince Charles tells America to cut down on steaks ... for the sake of the world

America's appetite for beef is jeopardising the world's water supply, the Prince of Wales said during a visit to the US.

(By Jon Swaine, UK Telegraph) - In a speech in Washington, the Prince said that the need for vast amounts of irrigation in industrialised food production was threatening to deplete reserves of the "magical substance we have taken for granted for so long".

"For every pound of beef produced in the industrial system, it takes two thousand gallons of water," he told the Future of Food conference at Georgetown University.

"That is a lot of water and there is plenty of evidence that the Earth cannot keep up with the demand."

Americans eat more than 41kg of beef a year on average, according to the UN, almost twice that consumed by Britons and four times the international average.

The Prince called for an overhaul of food production, championing organic and sustainable techniques, and also criticised the US for allowing the destruction of vast regions of its rural land.