Accounting And Analysis Of Water Footprint On Residents’ Food Consumption In Zhangye City

Water resources are an important part of the ecological environment and are an irreplaceable and important resource for human survival and development.At present,the water crisis has become a limiting factor in the social and economic sustainable development in many countries and regions.The environmental problems caused by population growth,urbanization,and food and energy security policies have long attracted people’s attention.However,environmental issues caused by changes in dietary structure and consumer demand have not received sufficient attention and in-depth research.Zhangye City,located in the middle reaches of the Heihe River,mainly depends on transiting the Heihe River to develop industrial and agricultural production and solve domestic water use.It is a severely water-deficient area.The issue of water resources in Zhangye City has become a prominent contradiction between water,economy and ecological systems in the process of sustainable development in Zhangye City.Food is a must-have for residents’daily consumption.This paper calculates and analyzes the consumption of water resources by residents of Zhangye City and their impact on the environment.Paying attention to the water footprint of residents’food consumption can not only directly reflect the impact of residents’daily food consumption on the environment,but also lay a scientific foundation for guiding sustainable consumption patterns.Obtaining data through social survey to quantify the food consumption water footprint of residents in Zhangye City,this paper constructs the STIRPAT stochastic model by using the IPAT equation to analyze the main factors and functions of residents’food water consumption footprint,and draws the following main conclusions:(1)affected by geographical location,eating habits and other factors,the difference on per capita resident food consumption water footprint between the highest and the lowest is 1502.29(m~3/yr),and the average value was 1083.36(m~3/yr).While the county with the highest food consumption water per capita in each of the six counties in Zhangye City is Sunan Yugu Autonomous County with the lowest county being Shandan County,showing a general trend of decreasing from northwest to southeast.(2)The consumption of cereal in Zhangye City was higher than the healthy diet structure advocated by DG,while the consumption of sugars and vegetables was lower than DG.Compared with DGE,both the proportion of meat consumption and the proportion of water consumed in meat consumption are further and further away from unsustainable consumption.(3)The results of the traditional regression model show that there is a proportional relationship between the three factors of population,per capita income and technology,and environmental impact.In model 2 and model 3,the natural distance and economic distance are positively related to the food consumption water footprint of residents respectively.In model 4 that introduce natural and economic distance at the same time,the natural distance is negatively related to the water footprint of residents’food consumption,and the economic distance is positively related to the water footprint of residents’food consumption.