The California Department of Food and Agriculture released a new segment in their “Growing California” video series. This installment, “Water Wise,” focuses on one of the most pressing and contentious issues facing the state, efficient water use while also producing crops.

In the words of CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, the video series is a way to connect people to the food they eat and the tremendous bounty of California agriculture. “I just see this yearning for people to make a connection,” Secretary Ross said. “In an era when people want to know more than ever about the origins of their food, we wanted to do our part in sharing these important, compelling stories.”

Total viewership on CDFA’s Planting Seeds Blog for a tracked period in 2013 (February through September) was 59,071 – a 22,384 viewer increase from the previous year. Of the increased viewership – the video series is representative of approximately 44 percent of this total. Average viewership per video, as of September 2013, is estimated at 346 views.

Growing California is a partnership between CDFA and the Buy California Marketing Agreement, which is behind the “California Grown” campaign. The videos, which have won a total of six Telly Awards, were produced in association with the Creative Services department at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS).

You can see more videos in the series here at http://www.californiagrown.org/growing-california/.