WWOOFing Around the World

After a yearlong stint working in investment finance in London just after college, I was hungry for a change of scenery – and pace.  That’s when I discovered the organization Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) in Italy in the autumn of 2007.  What London lacked in fresh air, green space and a chance to get your hands dirty, the Italian harvest season made up in droves.  The experience brought me back to my childhood in rural Kentucky with its open skies, kind people, and an appreciation for homegrown food prepared with love. 

Over the course of my twenties, I would periodically spend a few weeks here or a month there volunteering on farms along my world travels, always as a way of connecting more deeply with the cultures that I explored while giving back to the people who tirelessly work to produce food for their communities in a responsible and ethical manner.  I cherish the lessons learned while harvesting potatoes in Iceland, mucking the stalls of a pig farm in Norway, or building cob walls in Normandy, among so many other agricultural experiences. 

From weeding (lots of weeding!), harvesting and canning produce to building with natural, eco materials, I am forever appreciative of these hands-on life skills that I’ve been so fortunate to learn while working alongside some of the best organic agricultural pioneers, and am eager to once again explore various techniques and volunteer on farms all over the world, this time with Trey by my side for the journey.

-Martin.