WWOOF-ing it.
5 Reasons to Check Out WWOOF
I was able to learn about a lot of opportunities that I did not realize existed prior to my semester abroad in Ireland. WWOOF, the World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms, is an organization that puts volunteers in contact with small scale organic farmers all over the world that need assistance maintaining their crop. If you've never heard of it, here are 5 reasons to check out their site.
1. Helping Farmers
WWOOF provides lists of farmers and gardeners growing organic crops on a smaller scale that need volunteer help for a variety of tasks. Volunteers are unpaid but are provided food and shelter in exchange for their services. This helps the farmers conserve money since they are primarily profit driven and cannot afford additional help that needs to be paid.
2. Alternative to Studying Abroad
Personally I think studying abroad is extremely important for any college aged person for social reasons as well as experiencing a different perspective of business. Since it is not likely that a career in business will take place solely in the US it is important to gain this knowledge early on. However, for some people the structure of study abroad is unappealing and not entirely genuine. WWOOF is 100% person to person contact with little to no assistance from any sort of institution. This provides a challenging environment that is totally determined by someone's skills in communication and independence.
3. Organic Initiative
Clearly in cities like Burlington, VT the organic initiative is seen everywhere from community farms to multiple organic grocery stores around town. But out in the rest of the world organic farming is a personal decision that farmers make and choose to take on the task of building an organic farm. This can be difficult since there are so many requirements and little educational information that is accessible to farmers. By helping convert farms or maintain organic farms the initiative spreads and is shared as a successful experience to many people, which in turn encourages them to also give it a shot.
4. Great for Networking
The WWOOF organization began almost 40 years ago as a way to help farmers across Europe and expanded to cover farmers all over the world. Hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered through WWOOF during this time. The message of sustainable living has been dispersed through many filters for a long time and WWOOF has been on the forefront of this campaign. Not only has the message spread so has the community of WWOOFers as seasons pass and more people participate. Young people from around the globe meet and work together on many of these farms.
5. Regions All Over the World
Who wouldn't absolutely love the opportunity to travel anywhere they desired. With WWOOF farms in nearly all regions of the world this is entirely possible. Many countries have their own WWOOF program that volunteers can subscribe to and receive a list of farms in need while other have compiled a master list of several countries that work together to have a presence within the organization. Some of the regions available are South America, Africa and the Asian Pacific, all of which have hundreds of opportunities. With the abundance of choice everyone who desires to travel and see the world while doing good can have a fair chance instead of fighting for select positions.
So, if you think that organic and sustainable living is interesting and you enjoy traveling then check out WWOOF and volunteer. If you're still not convinced, check out their website:
and learn more. Chances like this are few and far between, seize the day and the opportunity before you can find even more things to clutter your everyday life.
PS. Check out this video that shows the impact of WWOOF in Korea.
<p>WWOOF: The Movie Trailer from Ashley Terry on Vimeo.</p>
