Peace and Environment News* March 2000
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Peace and Environment News * March 2000 |
by Ruby Isaacs
 In July 1997, Genevieve Willis WWOOFed in County Cork, Ireland. Photo: Genevieve Willis. |
John Vanden Heuvel, the Coordinator of the WWOOF Canada Web site, states that WWOOFers comprise: young people in their 20s; 65 percent women; 50 percent from Canada; 10 percent each from England, Germany, and Japan.
While you're travelling across this great earth, you can exchange room and board for work on organic farms. You can go WWOOFing. It's up to you to make the arrangements, in advance.
Internationally, WWOOF stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. Only in Canada, WWOOF stands for World Wide Orientation to Organic Farms. According to John Vanden Heuvel, who coordinates the WWOOF Canada Web site at www.members.tripod.com/~wwoof/, "No discrepancy...WWOOF does stand for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. We are just trying to create a fuller picture with what WWOOF is really about by using World Wide Orientation to Organic Farms." John Vanden Heuvel can also be reached at RR#2, S.18, C.9, Nelson, BC, V1L 5P5, phone 604-354-4417.
For a direct connection to WWOOF International, go to www.phdcc.com/wwoof/ You'll find links to various countries, such as Australia, Canada, Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), New Zealand, and the United States.
In July 1997, Genevieve Willis WWOOFed in the Republic of Ireland. She heard about the organization through a friend who lives in Wales and enjoyed WWOOFing in British Columbia. After Genevieve mailed a one-year membership fee to the national organization in Ireland, she received a booklet containing addresses and descriptions of participating organic farms. It was up to her to contact host farms and negotiate the duration of her placements. She advises booking early. Most farms located in tourist destinations are fully booked four months in advance. During her trip, she stayed with two families for a total of three weeks.
Life on the organic farm involved a pastoral scene of weeding vegetable gardens, tying up beans, building a path "down the middle with blackberries on either side" and climbing ladders to shovel sheep dung from the pile. Working in all kinds of weather, she was happy to have followed recommendations to "bring your own work clothes and gloves."
In retrospect, Genevieve "enjoyed it mostly for the cultural exchange." Her organic gardening experience led to a job the next summer as a student coordinator at the local BUGs (Bytown Urban Gardens).
Located halfway between Ottawa and Montreal, Mariposa farm hosts about two WWOOFers per year. From May to December for the past four years, Ian Walker has accepted the inexperienced help of these young travellers who are eager to work. It takes a healthy work ethic to do barn chores, gardening, and spreading manure in the fields for mulching and fertilizing. For a quick virtual tour, go to www.mariposa-duck.on.ca/
Brian Jess operates an organic farm near Killaloe, two hours from Ottawa. The farm makes salad bags with 30 types of lettuce, 100 types of greens, 20 types of herbs, and assorted edible flowers. His family enjoys living communally with WWOOFers from Korea, Japan, and Australia. Brian shares the philosophy that "there is life in everything and life is what makes things grow in the soil." He believes that people have grown up disconnected with how life works.
On his farm near London, Ontario, host Alex Nurnberg "strives to be bio-dynamic." For seven years, he has been listening to the fresh thinking of young WWOOFers who share the work on his organic farm. While WWOOFers learn about various organic agricultural techniques, Alex enjoys the cultural exchange.
Ruby Isaacs is a writer living in Ottawa.
Converted May 23, 2000 - Lg
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