Volunteering on Organic Farms

Treehugger has a fascinating idea about how to spend some of your vacation days. The article "Volunteer on an Organic Farm" features the WWOOF organization, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

The article reads, "You can't give up your day job to start that organic farm that you have been dreaming about and you don't have any land for an organic vegetable garden--but you really want to give it all a try. What to do? The answer is easy: volunteer for a week or two on someone else's. Through WWOOF-World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms--you can live the life, work the work and learn all about the organic movement. Plus you meet fascinating, like-minded people. WWOOF is a world-wide organisation [sic], with branches all over Europe, North and South America and Africa. Volunteers are not paid, but are given meals and accommodation and valuable training in new skills.

"Browsing through the listings is fascinating--there are so many people out there living on farms and in the countryside working to grow their own food, sell it, develop markets and make their way. Volunteers can go to Japan, New Zealand, Hawaii, Austria. They can work on one acre or 200 acre farms, Georgian houses, or small cottages, a stud farm in Spain, harvesting wild herbs in the south of France. Volunteering and living with a family is a wonderful way to learn about new cultures without being an intrusive tourist and at the same time you are giving back something to that country. It's really a form of eco-tourism at its best."

What a unique way to spend a vacation. Think about how much you'd learn. Working at a WWOOF farm in the USA could teach us about farming and the importance of the organic food movement. Nearly all of us are completely removed from the sources of the food we eat, so working on a farm could help us to respect the work that goes into our food a bit more. It would be an excellent way to network with other passionate, committed people, which may be just the inspiration many of us need to re-energize.

Working at a WWOOF farm internationally, of course, has all these benefits and more. Depending upon which country you travel to, you may also be able to learn or practice a new language, discover a new culture, and gain a new perspective on work and/or your relationship with your sustenance.