If you are provided information on resources used for dinner options, would you choose differently? A dinner envisioned by Samantha Hartzell of Porporato’s Research Group noted differences in water use by various crops, based on their photosynthesis pathways. From the piece:

The three photosynthesis pathways (C3, C4, and CAM) each have important contributions for sustainable agriculture. The C3 pathway, the most common and basic pathway, is the engine which produces most of the food that we eat today. The “carbon-concentrating” C4 pathway evolved to use sunlight and water more efficiently, and gives us corn, sugarcane, and other “grass-like” crops. The CAM pathway functions with extremely low water inputs (up to ten times less than the C3 pathway) and gives us niche foods like pineapple, nopales, and agave syrup. The dinner was a partnership between Princeton Environmental Institute, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Campus Dining.