The blog-post is the first in a two-part series on water. To read the follow up piece, where Dr Tim Hess from Cranfield University expands on the water stress footprint associated with different foods, read Post Two: Water footprint is the answer. Now what’s the question?This piece is written by FCRN member Brad Ridoutt who is a Principal Research Scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. He is an international leader in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA), which he applies to agricultural production, food systems and sustainable healthy diets. Dr Ridoutt is engaged in a variety of international initiatives related to sustainability assessment. This includes ISO (International Organization for Standardization) where he represents Australia on committees related to LCA and environmental labelling. He also leads a task force within the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative which is establishing global guidance for developers of footprint metrics.NB. For an overview on terminology and the differences between water footprint and LCA, see the boxes below this text where more details are provided.