World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF, ), or World Wide Organization of Organic Farms, is a loose network of national organizations that facilitate
homestay
Homestay (also home stay and home-stay) is a form of hospitality and lodging whereby visitors share a residence with a local of the area (host) to which they are traveling. The length of stay can vary from one night to over a year and can be pr ...
s on
organic farms. , Australia with 2,600 hosts has the most host farms and enterprises, followed by New Zealand with 2,340 and United States with 2,052 hosts.
The UK has 688 WWOOF hosts.
While there are WWOOF hosts in 210 countries around the world, no central list or organization encompasses all WWOOF hosts. As there is no single international WWOOF membership, all recognised WWOOF country organizations strive to maintain similar standards, and
work together to promote the aims of WWOOF.
WWOOF aims to provide volunteers (often called "WWOOFers" or "woofers", ) with first-hand experience in organic and ecologically sound growing methods, to help the organic movement; and to let volunteers experience life in a rural setting or a different country. WWOOF volunteers generally do not receive
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
in exchange for services. The host provides
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
,
lodging
Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...
, and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or
gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...
activities.
The duration of the visit can range from a few 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 technology ...
s,
allotments, and
commercial farms. Farms become WWOOF hosts by enlisting with their national 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
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, wanted to provide urban dwellers with access to the
countryside
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, ...
, while supporting the
organic movement
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural pr ...
. Her idea started with trial working weekends for four people at the
biodynamic farm at
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...
in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
. People soon started volunteering for longer periods than just weekends, so the name was changed to Willing Workers On Organic Farms, but then the word "work" caused problems with some countries'
labour law
Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
s 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 the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant worker ...
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 what country they would like to visit and volunteer in, and then 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 can expect to work for 4–6 hours a day for a full day's worth of food as well as accommodation. Volunteers could be asked to help with a variety of tasks, including 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 decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...
, gardening, planting, cutting wood, weeding, harvesting, packing, milking, feeding, fencing, making mud-bricks, winemaking, 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.
Types
A 2018 article published in the ''Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development'' classified a ...
*
Agroecology
Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) 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 ...
*
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...
*
Forest farming
Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under a forest canopy that is intentionally modified or maintained to provide shade levels and habitat that favor growth and enhance production levels. Forest farming encompasses a ra ...
*
Natural farming
Natural farming ( 自然農法, shizen nōhō),1975 1978 re-presentation ''The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming''. also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming" or "do-nothing farming", is an ec ...
*
Permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
*
Organic Farming
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
*
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 services
Cultural exchange
Organizations established in 1971
Supraorganizations