HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF, ), or World Wide Organization of Organic Farms, is a network of national organizations that facilitate homestays on organic farms. There is no central list or organization that encompasses all WWOOF hosts. As there is no single international WWOOF membership, all recognized WWOOF country organizations strive to maintain similar standards, and cooperate together to promote the aims of WWOOF. WWOOF provides volunteers (often called "WWOOFers" or "woofers", ) with enough experience in organic and ecologically sound growing methods to help the organic movement. They let volunteers experience life in a rural setting or in a different nation. WWOOF volunteers generally do not receive a salary in exchange for services. The host provides food, lodging, and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or gardening activities for the host. The duration of the visit can range from days to years. Workdays average five to six hours, and participants interact with WWOOFers from other countries. WWOOF farms include private gardens through
smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...
s, allotments, and commercial farms. Farms become WWOOF hosts by enlisting with their regional organization. In countries with no WWOOF organization, farms enlist with WWOOF Independents.


History

WWOOF originally stood for "Working Weekends On Organic Farms" and began in England in 1971. Sue Coppard, a woman working as a secretary in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, wanted to provide urban dwellers with access to the countryside while supporting the organic movement. Her idea started with a trial of working weekends for four people at the biodynamic farm at
Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
in Sussex. People soon started volunteering for longer periods than just weekends, so the name was changed to Willing Workers On Organic Farms. Eventually, the word "work" caused problems with some countries' labor laws and immigration authorities, who tended to treat WWOOFers as
migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...
s and oppose foreigners competing for local jobs. (Many WWOOFers enter countries on tourist visas, which is illegal in countries such as the United States.) Both in an attempt to circumvent this and also in recognition of WWOOFing's worldwide scope, the name was changed again in 2000 to ''World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms''. Some WWOOF groups (such as Australia) choose to retain the older name, however.


Volunteering

Volunteers choose which country they would like to visit and volunteer in and it is their responsibility to contact the relevant organization to arrange the dates and duration of their stay at selected farms. The duration of a volunteer's stay can range from days to months, but is typically one to two weeks. Volunteers usually work for 4–6 hours a day in return for a one day's worth of food on top of accommodation. Volunteers are expected to assist with a variety of tasks, including but not limited to; sowing seed, making
compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...
, gardening, planting, cutting wood, weeding, harvesting, packing, milking, feeding, fencing, making mud-bricks, wine making, cheese making, and bread baking.


See also

*
Agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...
*
Agroecology Agroecology is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. The term can refer to a science, ...
*
Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...
* Forest farming * Natural farming * Permaculture *
Organic Farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...
*
Workaway Workaway is a platform that allows members to arrange homestays and cultural exchange. Volunteers or "workawayers", are expected to contribute a pre-agreed amount of time per day in exchange for lodging and food, which is provided by their host ...


References


External links


WWOOF
- The Federation of WWOOF Organisations (FOWO)
WWOOF International
- WWOOF International Ltd Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwoof Organic farming organizations Organic gardening Simple living Hospitality exchange services Organizations established in 1971 Supraorganizations