Ever thought about “working” on your vacation? Of course not, right?
Working would be the last thing you would want to do on a vacation, but after this post, you might actually change your mind.
I am always talking about the importance of eating fresh and natural food and avoiding highly processed foods. In an ideal world, natural and organic products would be more available in supermarkets for us to pick and choose. There would be a bounty of fresh, seasonal and organic vegetables and fruits, the butcher section would be filled with the best quality, organic, grass fed meats and we would never settle for less because we would be able to afford it. But this is not my perfect world; far from it. And unfortunately supermarkets are filled with highly processed foods which, according to statistics, Americans spend 90% of their grocery budgets on. Many people not only do not have the means to buy good quality seasonal ingredients, they also don’t know how to grow their own, so they are stuck in a rut of bad choices they don’t know how to get out of. Many of these same people don’t have the means to go on long or fancy vacations either. But there just might be a way out of this rut.
This is where the “work vacation” comes into play. I recently stumbled upon the website for the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) which connects volunteers to farms in their network. It is an opportunity to help small farms, while learning to implement ecological, low-impact methods in a hands-on manner. In other words, it’s a “farm work vacation”. This is the sort of vacation that could change your life for the better, and you might still get a tan, even if it’s a “farmer’s tan". In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. The network of farmers is not only in the USA but all over the world!
Imagine, getting to work on an organic dairy farm in Switzerland, or a farm in Italy or France! Want to be adventurous? Why not even go to an organic cabbage farm in northern Thailand?
Far away travel is not your thing? Don’t want to spend the airfare money? You can stay in the country! There are thousands of organic farms near you that would be more than happy to have you as a volunteer and in exchange teach you about their organic practices, critter care, general homesteading, food preservation, and more. Wouldn’t it be great to come back from your vacation with something to show for it? Come back home with the knowledge to start your own little back yard operation, or even start a community garden? You’ll know how!
Make your next vacation count and take a trip to an organic farm. The farmers won’t be the only ones who appreciate it.
http://vimeo.com/6614235
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