WWOOFing: Farming, not Barking

I recently had some friends who decided to pack up and store all their worldly belongings, ship their cats to Colorado (to live with parents), pile into the car, and head off on a WWOOFing adventure. Whodawhat? This was the first time I had ever heard the term. So, what is WWOOFing, and why would you do it?

What is WWOOFing?

WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. WWOOF is actually an international organization that began in 1971 in the UK. WWOOF connects people interested in volunteering and learning about organic farming and sustainable living with organic farms or small holdings that are looking for volunteer work. So basically, WWOOFers stay for free on organic farms in exchange for their volunteer time.

A Brief History of WWOOFing:

WWOOF originally began as Working Weekends on Organic Farms in 1971 by Sue Coppard, a London secretary looking to spend more time in the countryside and interested in the organic movement. It started with one trial weekend of four people, and quickly gained momentum. The idea grew in a grassroots manner, and soon there were many independently run WWOOFing organizations all over the world. In 2000, the first International WWOOF conference was held, and the name was officially changed to “World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms” to indicate the international interest in the organization and to help alleviate legal problems with the word ‘work’ in the title (revolving around the idea of migrant workers, which WWOOFers are not). The conference also helped establish guidelines for what WWOOFing is, and support new WWOOFing organizations.

How to Get Started WWOOFing:

Interested WWOOFers can find a WWOOF organization for the region they are interested in WWOOFing and get connected with a farm host. Regional and National WWOOF organizations usually have a small membership fee that provides you will contact information all the available hosts in that region. Once WWOOFers have found the farm for them, they need only to worry about getting to it. Once there, they get shelter and spend their days learning about the farms operations & organic farming, and volunteering in whatever ways the farm needs help, be it in the fields or at the farmer’s market.

For more information about WWOOFing worldwide, and links to regional organizations, visit www.wwoof.org

For information on WWOOFing in the US, visit www.wwoofusa.org

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