WWOOF

Farms wishing to become a WWOOF host provide their details to either their national organisation (if any) or to the UK office. These are collated and published in a booklet. Interested volunteers pay a small annual membership fee to receive a copy of this booklet and a membership card. They can then contact the farms directly to arrange placement. Duration of placement can range from a few days to months or even years on occasion.

WWOOF volunteers ('WWOOFers') do not normally receive any financial payment. The host provides food, accommodation and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or gardening activities.

A huge variety of people volunteer through WWOOF, from vacationing students to itinerant hippies or people who are interested in starting organic farming or organic gardening for themselves. Likewise the farms can range from a minor smallholding or even allotment to a large commercial farm.

The role of the WWOOF organisations is generally limited to disseminating information. They do not do any particular checks on either hosts or volunteers. Some host farms may exploit workers, particularly foreign workers. Hosts may be interested purely in the free labour and neglect their critical teaching role. Some volunteers may be uninterested in farming and merely looking for a cheap holiday in an interesting location.

As of 2004, the following countries or states have their own WWOOF organisation and therefore publish their own booklet. Hosts located in other countries have their listings published in the WWOOF Independents booklet.