Experience is one of the best parts of life. Get out there and do what you are meant to do. If you have any curiosity about organic farming, or want to know what it takes to start and successfully run a farm, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) will give you that experience and allow you to chase your dreams.

The WWOOF program has helped so many people discover their future career path, a sustainable lifestyle, and the world. The program has helped so many people and could help out you too! Why should you join the WWOOF Program right now? Three reasons stand out above all others: to learn the importance of growing food and being sustainable, to take the opportunity to travel, and to make connections with like-minded people.

1. Learning how to practice sustainability

There is so much you can learn living and work on a farm, one of them being how to live sustainably. A big part of living this lifestyle is growing your own food, and the WWOOF program shows you how.

The journey of buying lettuce from a generic grocery store to have for dinner is one that requires a very large carbon footprint. The conventional lettuce you are buying is typically grown in Mexico (or a place where products can be grown year-round). It is grown using gallons of water, it is sprayed with chemicals, and the process of growing it ruins the quality of the soil, contaminating it and depleting it of vital nutrients.

What’s more, this is all done with the help of underpaid people who are often taken advantage of. The lettuce in your local grocery store is then driven up to the United States and transferred by truck. Alternatively, it is shipped off by plane, given a price tag, and put up on shelves, ready for people to buy. Either way, the journey from farm to grocery store is often 1500 miles or more, involves several different supply chains, and takes many days or several weeks to arrive at its next-to-final destination. 

In many cases, the lettuce you are eating for lunch or dinner is a month old. This overall process of getting food from the farm to your home requires a lot of time and excessive use of emissions. The making of the lettuce you buy at the store also likely exploits indigenous and poor people and destroys native forests, plants, and animals.

This may seem overwhelming, but there is a solution: not only eating local food, but growing at least some of your own. The WWOOF program is a great opportunity to explore this possibility.

The WWOOF program teaches the importance of supporting local farms and eating food that you grew yourself! With this program, even if you don’t become a farmer, you can plant a garden and learn steps and tips to reduce your carbon footprint and food waste.

Most meals are shared on the farm with your host. At times, you can even make the meal. Learning to grow your own food, cook it, and have it for people to enjoy can be rewarding as well as educational. The whole experience of WWOOF is dedicated to teaching students who want to be farmers and enjoy living and learning about a sustainable lifestyle. The program not only teaches you things you can do in your everyday life but also teaches you about the world. Depending on the place you chose to go, it could have a transformative impact on your life and how you view the world.

2. Being able to travel the world!

Have you ever wanted to travel around the world? Discover places you’ve never been before, places like Japan, Africa, Sweden, and France? Have you wanted to travel within the United States to places like Hawaii, Washington, or Alaska? Well, with the WWOOF program, you can do just that!

The WWOOF program allows you to stay on the property of the farm you work on, and you have the freedom to travel off the farm to explore the wider area. Although most farms require a certain number of hours a week, they usually average about five hours a day. Some farms have bikes for their WWOOFers to take out, and other areas have excellent public transportation. One hour you can be working on the farm, the next you can be relaxing on the beach.

The WWOOF program helps two types of people, farmers and potential farmers, while allowing farms to receive the extra help and students to get the experience of farming sustainably. In the United States alone,, there are 1,528 organic host farms that are out there waiting for you. Get on a plane right now and travel to one of them!

There are so many places where you could find a home and create something. To be able to experience something like this is a gift that can serve you well for the rest of your life. You could apply in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, and even Puerto Rico. Hosts all around the U.S. are ready to teach you. You could also travel overseas to countries in any of the four other continents outside of North America. With the experience of being able to travel and explore new places also comes the possibility of making connections with others who share your values and aspirations.

3. Making connections

 A lot of the hosts that are on the WWOOF website are looking for someone who is excited, passionate, and willing to get their hands dirty. Most of these hosts are looking for students who need experience and are ready to save the planet one step at a time, although there is no age limit to joining the program and some farms are looking for more experienced WWOOFers. For students who join this program and dream to grow up and be sustainable farmers, however, this is the program for you. It not only teaches you so much and gives you the opportunity to work closely with farmers, it builds connections that will help you as you continue your journey beyond the WWOOF experience.

As long as you communicate and help out your hosts, they are more than willing to help you out in your future endeavors. WWOOF allows you to network, which is crucial for a person just starting out. With a social network built through this program, you can also create a sort of social safety net: it gives you references, job opportunities, and more. As is generally true in other areas of like, if people like you, they will usually be willing to help you.

Finding your place in the world

That is why it is important to leave a positive impact on people, because you are always representing yourself. And, if you are lucky enough and can visit a cool place, your host may be willing to help you find a job out there too.

WWOOF is a great opportunity and gives many people the ability to find out who they are and where they belong in the world. The world is out there for you to explore and there are people out there to teach you about it. This world is such a wonderful place and with the help of this program, it can hopefully, one day, heal from the trauma of so much destruction to the environment.

By Olivia McSweeny (Green and Prosperous)

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