Ben Harris used to have what many might have thought a “dream job.”
At least, in the working world of journalism, it sounds pretty good. Harris worked for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency; somethng akin to the Associated Press for Jewish media. His last year there he was given a video camera and a blogsite, and sent out on the road – across the United States and Europe – chronicaling life in Jewish communities.
It would seem like a step up from covering the basic beat down at the town or city hall, but it left the 33 year-old Harris feeling like he was missing something. “It was a lot of fun, but i didn’t feel like what I was doing mattered a whole lot,” he said. “I was drawn into journalism for a lot of idealistic reasons and they didn’t pan out.”
So, after four years of taking notes and writing stories, he made what may turn into a career change – into agriculture.
Actually, he’s testing waters. He joined the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms -USA, a California-based non-profit organization that places individuals who want to be interns and experience life on an organic farm first-hand. Harris wound up at Earth Sky Time, an organic farm south of manchester on Route 7A, run and managed by Oliver Levis.
Nowadays, instead of blogging about Jewish life in various parts of the world, he pulls weeds from rows of vegetables, helps out with other chores that come along, and also pitches in at the various farmers markets Earth Sky Time sells its produce at. It feels more rewarding, he said.
“I find this work is hard but in a larger sense very satisfying and meaningful,” he said. “The way we get out food in America is really messed up and this is an important way to help fix that.”
Is it the answer for the long term? Maybe or maybe not, but interning as a “Wwoofer,” as those involved in the organization sometimes refer to themselves as, is a good way to find out. If nothing else, they come away with a better understanding and appreciation for what goes into making food grow from the soil, several said.
They are unpaid, but get free room and board along with the practical exxperience. There’s a lot of flexibility from farm to farm when it comes to working arrangements, such as how much work time is expected from them, and how long they will stay, for instance. Some farms are more formal about those details than others. The WWOOF guidebook encourages would-be interns to ask those questions first to avoid misunderstandings later.
Earth Sky Time has about five acres under cultivation on Route 7A and another acre and a half at the Wilburton Inn, which is owned and run by Levis’s parents. Now in its first year as a fully certified organic farm, they grow several different kinds of vegatables including squash, peas, beans, rasberries, strawberries and radishes, with tomatoes being their largest and most plentiful ‘cash crop,’ Levis said.
Along with what they sell at the farmers markets, they also sell their produce to those enrolled in an organization called Community Supported Agriculture. People buy shares, pay up front and come by once a week to collect their fresh produce – which at earth sky time could include homemade breads – for a specified period of time.
Some Wwoofers may lack experience, and it might not be the most efficient way to run a farm in terms of harvesting the ccrops, but they work hard, are flexible, and it is a low cost solution for a small family farm, Levis said.
“Instead of hiring people to do it, we can rely on unpaid labor, and they get a lot from it,” he said. “I like this idea that we’re sharing these skills and having a lot of fun.”
It’s something of an international community as well. David Bevan hails from England. He came over to visit a brother last year, heard about WWOOF, and came back for another 6 months this year, he said.
Jacki Bach, 20, is from New York City, but attends college in Scotland. She heard about WWOOF from a friend and decided to give it a try. She had only been at Earth Sky Time a few days when she stopped weeding to talk about her experience so far, which involved something different each day, she said.
“I don’t know what I was expecting, but I like what it is,” she said, adding she wasn’t sure how long she would be staying for.
Jessica Taffet, 19, lives in Great Neck, N.Y., on Long Island, and attends Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. She too heard about WWOOF from friends and thought it would be one way to afford traveling, she said.
“I was just looking for an opportunity to learn, work hard, be outside and meet great people, and that’s how it’s been,” she said. “I’m interested in understanding where food comes from – I never understood agriculture growing up in the suburbs.”
Theo Tallcott runs a small organic farm on Manchester West Road that also uses Woofers – about 20 or so have passed through ver the past two years, he said. Like Levis, his interns tend to the vegetable garden and help out at the farmers market, he said.
Some interns that roll through are more helpful than others, but on the whole it’s been a positive experience, he said.
The interns have rooms in one part of his house, and he doesn’t impose set limits on how long they can stay, he said.
“I practice what I call the ‘free will farm’, which is everyone does what you are called to do from your inner wisdom,” he said. “I think the WWOOF program is like service – they want to do something good (and) that attracts a dedicated young crowd.”
All told there are about 9,000 members enrolled in WWOOF-USA, spread out over 1,300 farms in the U.S., said Leo Goldsmith , the organization’s program manager. People pay $20 to become members for a year and that gives them access to the names of organic farmers, like Levis and Talllcott, who have qualified for a listing. Currently, there are a total of 17 farms in Vermont listed in the organization’s handbook.
WWOOF – originally shorthand for Willing Workers on Organic Farms, started in in 1971 when an English secretary, Susan Coppard, decided there was a need to connect those like herself who were interested in farming but could not easily work in the field. The basis trade-off was the same then as today – room and board in exchange for free labor and education. today the organization has branches in 25 countries, according to its handbook. WWOOF-USA didn’t get started until 2002, but from a small cluster of four farms in California is growing rapidly, especially in the northeast and northwestern U.S. states, Goldsmith said.
And it’s not just the 20-somethings who want to get their hands dirty with the farming chores – he gets a smattering of calls from those who are 50 years-old or older, and who say they want to do this, he said.
“We’re reallly just focusing on following our mission which is to promote small-scale organic farmers and create opportunities for educational and cultural exchange,” he said. “Farming is a really difficult way to make a living – we think of WWOOF as a way to broaden the support that a small scale grower has.”
Source: The Manchester Journal
