Wednesday 27 May 2009

WWOOF

A major part of my story is a network called World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms or WWOOF. The network connects small organic farms all over the globe with people willing to volunteer a few days or even a few months of their time and hard work. These volunteers are called "WWOOFers" and their travel to farms around the world is called "WWOOFing."

My story focuses on organic farms in the North Eastern United States. So, my journey began at WWOOF-USA. In order to gain quick access to the directory of farms and their contact information, I paid a $20 membership fee.

The directory includes a description of the land, the farm activities, the lifestyle etc... for each farm. From reading the profiles of these farms I'm noticing some trends in the lifestyles of the farmers. For example, many of them are vegetarian, vegans, or have "raw" or "live" diets- details that will make the story even richer.

As for the chores, most of the farms don't just grow food. Many have barns converted to art galleries or classrooms for lessons on renewable energy and agriculture design. So a volunteer's responsibilities include planting, weeding, and watering plants as well as assisting with art shows or cooking classes. This adds a new dimension to the story as well.

Here is a selection of various chores I found while researching the New York farms:

-planting
-watering
-harvesting
-milking goats
-collecting eggs
-building or refurbishing farm structures
-wine making
-soap and lotion making
-pickling and preserving foods
-bee keeping
-cooking
-grounds maintenance
-selling produce at farmer's markets and roadside stands
-breaking ground for new gardens

and these are just a few of the ones that stood out to me!

There's going to be so much to film- these places are not simply farms, but compounds of DIY activity.
Very cool.


UPDATE!!!
Great News: I got access to the Threshold Farm! The contact person sounds really nice and eager to participate in this project. From the email I got this evening, it looks as if I can start filming pretty much ASAP. This is very encouraging. More to come as I work out the details for my first shoot on a farm!!

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