I used 26.8 million, not billion. Using billion, the numbers are: 26.8 billion pounds of beef produced in US (recent year) 312000000000000 = above pounds times 12000 gallons total water usage in US = 408,000 million gallons per day 148920000000000 = water usage in US per year. thereby validating matt ball instead problem may be in the definition of "usage", or miscalculation of researchers, who knows. "Thomas E. Billings" <[log in to unmask]>@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> on 11/08/2001 10:31:13 AM Please respond to Raw Food Diet Support List <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Raw Food Diet Support List <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] cc: Subject: Re: new article shows 12000 gallons the article was discussed on the veganoutreach.org bulletin boards. Those boards were retired, but Matt Ball (of Vegan Outreach) did a quick calculation: (# pounds of beef produced in 1 year) X 12K = total_water and it turned out that total_water was greater than the sum of all water used in the US, in a year! Thus this claim is dubious and probably another exaggeration. The Vegan Outreach boards are no longer online, but perhaps they will put the calculations back up someday in an FAQ or other document? Tom Billings