Letter: Cash crops cause water crisis

Sir: Your report "World is running out of water" (25 January) points out that farming consumes most of the water used by humanity. This is one of the many environmental reasons to end livestock farming and eat a largely vegan diet.

In the West it takes, on average, 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat, but 2,500 gallons to produce a pound of meat (Joni Seager, The State of the Environment Atlas, Penguin Books, 1995). Livestock farming is also one of the biggest sources of water pollution.

RICHARD MOUNTFORD

Birmingham