What do avocados in Israel and roses in Kenya have in common? They are both frequently cited examples of the virtual water debate, a topic largely unknown outside of the public and environmental sectors. J.A. Allan, a British professor at King’s College London, originally coined the term to describe the consideration of embedded water consumption involved in the making of a product. For example, the difference between producing 1 kilogram of beef and 1 kilogram of wheat is that the former requires 13500 liters of water while the latter requires only 1160 liters. Others have interpreted virtual water as the practice by water-scarce countries of importing highly water-intensive crops to compensate for their water scarcity. Since Allan’s 1998 paper, some nations such as Israel have seriously considered the ramifications of virtual water while others such as Australia have rejected the consideration altogether. Rather than leading the production choices of a nation however, virtual water should be a conversation about efficient water resource allocation.