The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta (CDC) has reported that childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.
Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases. The CDC has developed Tips for Parents-Ideas to help children maintain a healthy weight. Please visit www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/children to review these important and helpful suggestions.

Limoneira is playing its part to help kids and nutrition by developing educational products for parents and children that promote healthy eating. Our Kids Master Chef Kit shows children that eating healthy can be fun. Our collaboration with the "Homegrown-The Importance of Agriculture in Ventura County" program, developed by the Ventura County Conservation District, brings school groups to Limoneira. They get lots of fresh air and exercise as they walk through our demonstration orchard with 300 citrus varieties, tour our lemon packing plant, and visit our solar orchard which collects 1 MW of electricity to run operations. This program was developed to meet the California Content Standard-Based Science Curriculum for field trips.

Limoneira participated at Sunset Magazine's Savor the Central Coast Event held at Santa Margarita Ranch in Santa Margarita, California from September 30th to October 3rd, along with The Santa Paula Art and Oil Museums, and partners from the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and greater Ventura County. This special event showcased the bounty of California's Central Coast. Sunset's expert editors and celebrity chefs guided attendees through unique culinary tours and one-of-a-kind winemaker dinners. Limoneira showcased our Limoneira Lifestyle lemon and avocado skin care products, Orchard Fresh Gift baskets, and shared information about Windfall Farms, Limoneira's unique equestrian, vintner and agricultural lifestyle community in Creston California, 20 miles from Santa Margarita.

Limoneira will attend PMA's Fresh Summit October 15th to 18th. One of the largest international events solely dedicated to fruit, vegetables and floral industries, Fresh Summit draws more than 18,500 attendees from 50 countries annually. There is no other show like it in the United States. Attendees from the entire supply chain pack the convention center to experience all that Fresh Summit has to offer. Limoneira personnel will be promoting our high quality fresh lemons as a guest in our Avocado-go-to-partner's trade booth. Limoneira Lemon Advertising will be appearing in The Packer, Produce News and Produce Business.

While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This population growth, coupled with industrialization and urbanization, will result in an increasing demand for water, and will have serious consequences on the environment.

As the per capita use increases due to changes in lifestyle, and as population increases as well, the proportion of water for human use is increasing. This, coupled with spatial and temporal variations in water availability, means that the water to produce food for human consumption, industrial processes and all the other uses is becoming scarce.

"There is a water crisis today. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people - and the environment - suffer badly." World Water Vision Report

Whatever the use of freshwater (agriculture, industry, domestic use), huge conservation of water, and improvement of water management is possible. Almost everywhere, water is wasted, and as long as people are not facing water scarcity, they believe access to water is an obvious and natural thing. With urbanization and changes in lifestyle, water consumption is bound to increase. However, changes in food habits, for example, may reduce the problem, knowing that growing 1kg of potatoes requires only 100 liters of water, whereas 1 kg of beef requires 13,000 liters.

Fortunately, Limoneira Company has sufficient water resource assets to provide for our agricultural crops. Nevertheless, we work hard to manage these valuable assets responsibly. The efficiency of all our water sources are analyzed regularly, and we employ up-to-date technology to manage our water resources. Real time soil moisture data is collected and transmitted for review, we strategically apply water to crops to minimize run-off with micro sprinklers and other state-of-the-art techniques, and we use pressure regulators on all systems to assure optimal water distribution. We understand the importance of maintaining adequate water supplies for both agricultural and urban uses. At Limoneira, water management is given one of the highest priorities in our sustainability efforts.