Nicholas Kristof, "Our Water-Guzzling Food Factory": What I Won't Kill, I Won't Eat

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Our Water-Guzzling Food Factory," Nicholas Kristof informs us:

"Like most Americans, I eat meat, but it’s worth thinking hard about the inefficiency in that hamburger patty — and the small lake that has dried up to make it possible."

Well, apparently unlike Kristof, I don't eat hamburgers, and although I wouldn't want to impose my dining habits on anyone else, they boil down to: What I'm not capable of killing, I won't eat, and I'm not capable of killing cows, particularly having worked at a dairy. (Just to set the record straight, although I've been a soldier for much of my life - regular army and reserves - and have witnessed firsthand the savagery that human beings can perpetrate upon one another, cannibalism is not an option for me.)

But what about agriculture and water? Kristof concludes:

"Maybe our industrial agriculture system is beginning to change, for we’re seeing some signs of a food revolution in America, with greater emphasis on organic food and animal rights. Just a week ago, Walmart called on suppliers to stop keeping calves in veal crates and hogs in gestation crates.

Something good could come from the California drought if it could push this revolution a bit further, by forcing a reallocation of water to the most efficient uses. But remember that the central challenge can’t be solved by a good rain because the larger problem is an irrational industrial food system."

What doesn't Kristof mention? First, the benefits of Israeli desalination know how. As reported in a Times article entitled "Aided by the Sea, Israel Overcomes an Old Foe: Drought" by Isabel Kershner:

"As California and other western areas of the United States grapple with an extreme drought, a revolution has taken place here. A major national effort to desalinate Mediterranean seawater and to recycle wastewater has provided the country with enough water for all its needs, even during severe droughts. More than 50 percent of the water for Israeli households, agriculture and industry is now artificially produced."

But why would Kristof, who is forever on the lookout for purported Israeli human rights violations, want to say anything positive about Israel?

Kristof also doesn't mention that genetically modified crops with deeper roots can require less irrigation and better survive drought conditions. Heaven forbid that Kristof mention this possibility to his progressive readers, who might tar and feather the man for this heresy; however, if the number of humans on this planet doesn't stabilize soon, there may be no other option.

[I continue to wait for answers from Andrew Rosenthal, Margaret Sullivan and Dean Baquet whether Nicholas Kristof was paid by the Clinton Foundation to serve as a panel moderator.]