World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms
Agriculture, Food & Nutrition
FLOCers celebrated the 2011 December holiday season with the annual Holiday Charity Crawl and Wrap party. 80 FLOCers attended the festivities which began at the Women’s Community of Laguna Beach and concluded downtown at Hennessey’s Tavern. During the evening FLOC members learned about the nonprofit organization World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) from the local director Ryan Goldsmith. After an organic dinner from La Sirena Grill, FLOCers embarked on a pub crawl involving 6 bars: Blue Laguna, Saloon, White House, Marine Room, Oceans Avenue and Hennessey’s Tavern. At each bar dollars were raised by bar patrons pitching into the “FLOC Holiday Bucket.”
In total, $380 dollars were raised and 100 gifts were collected for needy families. The gifts were later distributed to a Project Access sponsored community center in Santa Ana, CA.
“There are 1500 organic farms across the USA that are looking for host volunteers!” – Ryan Goldsmith, World Wide Opportunities of Organic Farms
Mission/Vision
World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, USA (WWOOF-USA) is part of a world-wide effort to link volunteers with organic farmers, promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices.
Formally called Working Weekends on Organic Farms, WWOOF came into being in Autumn 1971, in England, when a London secretary, Sue Coppard, recognized the need to provide access to the countryside for people like herself who did not otherwise have the means or the opportunity, and who were keen to support the organic movement . Her idea started with a trial working weekend, which she arranged for four people at the bio- dynamic farm at Emerson College in Sussex through a contact in the Soil Association. The weekend was a great success and things gathered momentum very quickly. Soon many more organic farmers and smallholders were willing to take people keen to work on this basis (WWOOFers). It seemed that many people were just desperate to get into the countryside. Hosts and workers made new friends and enjoyed the experience of working in common in an exchange of assistance and knowledge.
Visit the "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms" website
