Wwoof

[Gypsy Wagon]

squatting around any country you want can be made easier with a membership to the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms non-profit. For $30 you get a directory of a number of places to squat (and get fed) in exchange for a few hours of farm labor. For any traveling squatter this program is a must! The ol' volvo has taken us accross this country, and without the opportunitiy to chill out on organic farms we would be broke as shit and or dead.....Anyone elese use the wonders or the WWOOF program? Check it out, its really sweet....

 

[Gypsy Wagon]

Noone's heard of it? Traveling from farm to farm I ended up crashing at my in-laws house (in Minnesota) for 3 weeks...It is hell....But a good squat between cross-country stops.....

 

[macks]

I've heard of WWOOF, I think a lot of people on here have too. I worked on a farm down in Thermal, CA for a week or so on the way through there last spring. It was a pretty nice deal all in all but the lady that helped run the farm was really mean to me for some reason so I took off early.

I think that WWOOFing is more like a work-trade than squatting. But hey, not paying money for a place to sleep is always nice.

 

[Ravie]

i never will understand why it's seen as a "privalige" to have a place to sleep. why cant we sleep in a piece of dirt no one uses? why does it have to be illegal?

 

[macks]

Because we live in a society that doesn't tolerate that scumbag behavior.. Go drive your welfare cadillac somewhere else!

I would say that we probably won't be able to change the legality of it anytime soon.. but we can change whether we 'can' do it or not, because no one's stopping you from just going and doing it. It's only a problem if you get busted, and even them often times isn't that big of a deal anyway. It takes effort to get money. It takes much less effort to find an out of the way bush to sleep behind. Why work?

 

[stove]

Ravie: Because those whom have worked so hard for a house, home, and SUV get pissed off when they realize that we don't need all of that crap to enjoy life. So they try to make laws making it illegal for us to do what we do, simply because they think it's too late, and can't get off their boxcar to hell.

 

[Ravie]

ooooo! i like how you put that. you get karma points for that poetry.

 

[Angela]

:deadhorse:
I definitely don't think of these situations as squatting. I've done something like this for a short time before but not through Wwoof. My own experience and what I've heard from too many others is that these arrangements frequently turn into very exploitative work exchanges, something akin to short term servitude where your working long hours in exchange for minimal food/shelter. I think the reason a lot of us are living differently is to not be working 40+ hours a week to provide basic necessities. I have a lot of interest in permaculture and love growing food, I just don't want to do it on a commercial scale which results in exploitative conditions.

 

[Beegod Santana]

Wwoof sucks balls. I'm sorry, but the day I work like a dog for someone else's profit.... well... its just not gonna happen.

 

[katiehabits]

i've heard that your experience wwoofing all depends on the farm. i've heard really good things and bad things too (like exploitative working conditions or people who farm organic just cuz they can charge more for their crops & have wwoofers cuz it's free labor)
i want to woof this summer in canada(where i'm from). i don't know if there's any age restrictions on membership tho; does anyone know? also has anyone been too some good farms up here in the great white north?

 

[Gypsy Wagon]

I worked on this farm for 4 months in South Carolina. The people I stayed with did a lot of ocean fishing, so I learned a lot about shrimping, fishing, crabbing, digging for oysters and clams, etc. They also had a preety expansive garden. While I was there I stayed in a tipi and had tasks like feeding the chickens, collecting fire wood, weeding and composting. I helped with several big projects like installing irrigation pipe, building a greenhouse, brain tanning hides and experimenting with forest dwellings. The guy who I lived with was kind of a prick, but I learned a lot of cool shit and got to squat for 4 months for free. This was my first experience on the WWOOF program and its really sweet...I'm now off to Alabama to work on a goat, sheep, and organic vegetable farm. I'm sure that there are some large scale commercial farmers who are on there, but most of them are just small-scale families who obtain a good portion of their own food. The program is fairly cheap ($20 for one person $30 for two) and you can squat for short term or long term while learning some preety cool shit........

 

[Dmac]

i agree that the expierience is dependent on what the owners/opperators of a place are like and how you get along with them. it is also a very good idea to get a clear and complete understanding of what is expected, work-wise for what you get in return. it can save having hard feelings.

 

[Gypsy Wagon]

I agree 100%....