While a pound of wheat can be grown with 60 pounds of water, to produce a pound of meat it requires 2,500 to 6,000 pounds of water. Due to deforestation to create grazing land, it is estimated that each vegetarian saves an acre of trees per year. The amount of land needed to feed just one carnivore could be used to feed an estimated that 20 vegetarians. Even with these statistics, most meat eaters are not ready to give up eating meat to save the planet.

An alternative is fish, primarily Tilapia. This fish only uses about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. Cows can use up to 16 pounds of grain. It is among the most environmentally friendly types of meat protein to raise.

These fish can thrive on agricultural wastewater, making them easy and inexpensive to raise. They can be raised in water that may not be suitable for other purposes. In addition, their nutrient rich wastewater can be reused for hydroponics or used to water and fertilize plants.

The fish originated in Africa. Currently over 86 countries have started raising Tilapia. The United States is one of them. In the U.S., the tasty, firm meat, fish is becoming more popular so it is estimated that Tilapia fish farms will soon outnumber trout and catfish farms. Like chicken, it can be raised in a variety of situations. This fish can be raised in a simple backyard pond or in intensive commercial fish farm.

The video below shows a Tilapia aquaculture project in Mexico-LaBarra. The video includes the project from the erection of simple tanks to the fish being prepared for market.