During my 2-year stay in UK, particularly during spring to autumn, I plan to do volunteer work at organic farms. Although I did not have any friends or family who had an organic farm here before I came, it was not a problem because of this internationally renowned organisation called "WWOOF". The name WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is an international charity organisation to promote organic farming. They intermediate volunteer workers like myself and organic farms, which in many cases are in great need of helping hand due to the amount of the manual labor involved as well as the relatively small profit margin of the business.
If you sign up with WWOOF in the country of your choice, you will have access to a list of organic farms within the country which have been registered as WWOOF hosts. This way, you will be able to search for and directly contact farms you want to stay. During your stay, you will receive an accommodation and food in exchange for your work. At most farms, you will be expected to work for 5 to 6 hours average, five days a week.
WWOOF is run in many countries. Also, organic farms really vary in terms of the kind of produces, methods and size of business. You do not necessarily have to have farming experience in advance and most farms are willing to teach you from basics if you are genuinely interested. They usually have a good variety of jobs you could take on and help you find your favorite job. By Wwoofing, you can start from knowing nothing and come back home with a bit of experience and knowledge about the food you had had ever since you came into this world and probably taken for granted. As for the length of stay, you do not have to spare as long as 2 years like me, which is a bit extreme and rather crazy. Most farms accept Wwoofers for from 1 week upto a month or more. Though very few, some farms accept weekend Wwoofers.
If you are interested, I highly recommend you look up WWOOF in your country. If you are more of an adventurous kind and wish to Wwoof in a foreign country, I am sure that your stay with a foreign organic farm will satisfy your curiosity. I do not want to stress this point too much, because some people do take advantage of it, but it is an attractive way to travel for budget travelers and students wanting to learn a foreign language for cheap. But of course, you should only choose to Wwoof if you are interested in organic farming and willing to get your hands dirty!
Here is the link to WWOOF UK website for your reference.If you sign up with WWOOF in the country of your choice, you will have access to a list of organic farms within the country which have been registered as WWOOF hosts. This way, you will be able to search for and directly contact farms you want to stay. During your stay, you will receive an accommodation and food in exchange for your work. At most farms, you will be expected to work for 5 to 6 hours average, five days a week.
WWOOF is run in many countries. Also, organic farms really vary in terms of the kind of produces, methods and size of business. You do not necessarily have to have farming experience in advance and most farms are willing to teach you from basics if you are genuinely interested. They usually have a good variety of jobs you could take on and help you find your favorite job. By Wwoofing, you can start from knowing nothing and come back home with a bit of experience and knowledge about the food you had had ever since you came into this world and probably taken for granted. As for the length of stay, you do not have to spare as long as 2 years like me, which is a bit extreme and rather crazy. Most farms accept Wwoofers for from 1 week upto a month or more. Though very few, some farms accept weekend Wwoofers.
If you are interested, I highly recommend you look up WWOOF in your country. If you are more of an adventurous kind and wish to Wwoof in a foreign country, I am sure that your stay with a foreign organic farm will satisfy your curiosity. I do not want to stress this point too much, because some people do take advantage of it, but it is an attractive way to travel for budget travelers and students wanting to learn a foreign language for cheap. But of course, you should only choose to Wwoof if you are interested in organic farming and willing to get your hands dirty!
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