Sustainability Tip of the Week #STOW – WWOOFing
Want to live and learn on organic farms worldwide? Want to share your life with other like-minded people? Then maybe you should try WWOOFing! The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is a loose network of international organizations that facilitate placement of volunteers on organic farms. WWOOF links organic farmers and growers to promote cultural and educational experiences in order to create a more sustainable global community.
Volunteers can work at a site for almost any time period that suites them: one day, a week, multiple weeks, months, or even years. The length of the stay is negotiated directly between the volunteer and the host. Tasks may included things like sowing seeds, making compost, gardening, planting, cutting wood, wedding, harvesting, packing, milking, feeding, fencing, making mud-bricks, wine making, cheese making, and bread making.
Anyone who has a farm, smallholding, garden, allotment, vineyard, or woodland and follows organic or sustainability principles can be a host. Hosts provide volunteers with knowledge and instruction and in return, receive help from volunteers. Hosts also provide food and living accommodations for their volunteers.
To get involved with WWOOF, you can visit http://wwoofinternational.org/. There, you can look at all the locations where volunteers are needed on different WWOOF sites. In order to contact WWOOF sites, you need to sign up for a membership (for a $50). However, you only have to pay the membership fee once and there are no other costs associated with WWOOFing except for your transportation to and from the site.
WWOOFing can be a great vacation alternative or a nice day trip. It can be an opportunity to travel across the country, or visit a local farm you never knew was near you. It is a great way to learn about healthy food, healthy living, while supporting a healthy planet.
Written by Alyssa Lemire, Class of 2017
Image by emma.maria Awesome WWOOF Hosts & Our Norwegian/Greek Fusion Feast, Hilde & Anders
Nice blog! Keep sharing such an informative blog like this.
Good step for organic farming