Growing Food in Dry Times: Drought in the West

It's no surprise growing food uses lots of water. One cow needs anywhere from 3 to 30 L of water a day. It takes 3200 L of water to grow one pound of lentils. In this episode we ask, what do we do when there's not enough water to feed our food? Here in Canada, 2021 made history as prairie farmers experienced one of the worst droughts western North America has seen in the last 1,200 years. After three years of reduced precipitation, prolonged dry spells change everything from the crops we're able to grow, right down to the cost of the food on our plates.  In this episode, we hear from Merle Massie and Reg Lowe -- Saskatchewan farmers who are experiencing the impact of drought and unpredictable precipitation firsthand. Jay talks with Leon Kochian, Associate Director of the Global Institute for Food Security, about the 'root' of the problem. We look at how far science has come in breeding drought-resistant crops to help farmers adapt to both floods and water scarcity, and at where it's headed as we try to feed an ever-expanding human population.