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This article concerns UK commercial fruit and vegetable growers' narratives regarding the sustainability of water use for food production. In it we explore their perspectives on efforts by regulators to limit agricultural withdrawals of water from the natural environment in line with EU Water Framework Directive objectives, alongside their views on retailer sustainability commitments. Discourse analysis is used to investigate how the growers contested restrictive regulation, constructed their identities, portrayed other supply chain stakeholders, and conveyed their social relations with them. Using Erving Goffman's theory of frontstage and backstage performances, the implications for the growers' water management decisions and their internalisation of sustainability agendas for water are examined. Whilst the growers gave accounts of purposely misrepresenting their water withdrawal practices and their discourse illustrated significant polarisation between environmental and agricultural interests, their underlying commitment to environmental sustainability was ambivalent, with both anti and pro‐environmental attitudes expressed. The growers also frequently gave critiques of superficial sustainability in fresh produce supply chains. We argue that, given contemporary shifting definitions of agricultural identities, settings in which their construction is negotiated can provide windows of opportunity for conventional growers to engage in genuine pro‐environmental performances that may deepen their assimilation of environmental goals and commitment to sustainable water use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food production is a major contributor to a country's environmental burden. However, the burdens associated with individual foods vary significantly due to differing agricultural systems and locations, post-harvest storage, manufacturing and transport requirements. Dietary choices can therefore have a significant impact on the overall burdens associated with food consumption. Previous studies have generally considered changes in the proportion of animal-based foods in the diet or changes to a vegetarian, or a vegan diet. Using a life cycle assessment approach and data from published sources supplemented by original analysis, we estimated the blue water scarcity footprint and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, manufacture and distribution of three popular starchy carbohydrate foods as consumed in the United Kingdom – British fresh potatoes, Italian dried pasta and Indian dried basmati rice. Although similar to pasta in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per unit carbohydrate, when considered on the basis of typical portion size, potatoes have lower greenhouse gas emissions than pasta or basmati and the blue water scarcity footprint of basmati is two orders of magnitude greater than potatoes or pasta. The increasing preference for pasta and rice and reduction in household purchases of fresh potatoes in the United Kingdom over the period 1981–2010 has resulted in an increase in blue water scarcity footprint and a transfer of burdens from the United Kingdom to Italy and India, however the increased greenhouse gas emissions associated with rice and pasta has been, more or less, compensated by a reduction in emissions associated with purchases of potatoes. This paper has shown that dietary choices within food groups (in this case starchy carbohydrates) have a significant impact on an individual's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and blue water scarcity footprint. The life cycle assessment approach is useful for understanding where the impacts of dietary choices occur and can inform the supply chain about where efforts should be targeted to reduce those impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of fresh water and the quality of aquatic ecosystems are important global concerns, and agriculture plays a major role. Consumers and manufacturers are increasingly sensitive to sustainability issues related to processed food products and drinks. The present study examines the production of sugar from the growing cycle through to processing to the factory gate, and identifies the potential impacts on water scarcity and quality and the ways in which the impact of water use can be minimised. We have reviewed the production phases and processing steps, and how calculations of water use can be complicated, or in some cases how assessments can be relatively straightforward. Finally, we outline several ways that growers and sugar processors are improving the efficiency of water use and reducing environmental impact, and where further advances can be made. This provides a template for the assessment of other crops. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a fundamental component in primary food production, whether it be rainfall, irrigation used to water crops, or for supplying drinking water for animals, while the amount of water in the soil determines it capacity to support machinery and animals. We identify that UK agriculture is exposed to five main water-related risks: agricultural drought, scarcity of water resources, restrictions on the right to abstract water, excess soil water, and inundation. Projected milder, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers by the end of the century will change the frequency, persistence, or severity of each of these risks. This paper critically reviews and synthesizes the scientific literature on the impact of these risks on primary food production and the technological and managerial strategies employed to build resilience to these changing risks. At the farm scale, the emphasis has been on strategies to build robustness to reduce the impact of a water-related risk. However, collaborative partnerships allow for a more optimal allocation of water during times of scarcity. Enhancing cross-scale interactions, learning opportunities, and catchment-scale autonomy will be key to ensuring the agricultural system can build adaptive and transformational capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]