These days, sustainability is stylish. Everyone wants all-natural / organic / free range / grass fed /preservative free / non-GMO food. It’s healthy! It’s delicious! It’s safe!
But what if you want to take this interest a step further? What if you want to discover where food really comes from and how the system works?
More and more people are finding out by volunteering on organic farms- or even starting their own. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not radical hippies or vicious political advocates. Many interested parties are hip, urban dwellers, not looking to radically change their lives, but rather develop a deeper understanding of sustainability and get some refreshing time outside- away from the city and its superficiality and stress.
Many recreational farmers turn to World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a program that got its start in the UK in the ’70s, and has since expanded to become a worldwide network. WWOOF connects organic farms, smallholdings, and gardeners with volunteers (WWOOFers) who provide their labor in return for a learning experience and free room and board. WWOOFers can choose from organic farms all around the world- regions include North &Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Pretty cool, huh?
My good friend Tara McNerney recently spent a summer WWOOFing in France, and had some interesting things to say about the program. First, she shared with me that the farmers genuinely needed a helping hand, but “the farmers also seemed to all have an underlying desire to connect, and to share their pursuit for a new, healthier world human to human.” Clearly this isn’t just about work- it’s about a way of life.
Tara pointed out that most WWOOFers weren’t out to learn specific farming skills, but rather wished to gain a general insight into a lifestyle that is closer to the earth. They also often sought to develop their local language skills. Most interestingly, Tara shared that while WWOOFers may be an eclectic group, “practically all would say rather wistfully that it was their dream to one day “own a little farm,” or “have their own vegetable garden,” or just more broadly “get back in touch with the earth.” ”
WWOOFers aren’t the only ones going back to the earth with dreams of bucolic serenity. A recent article by Harumi Ozawa on Yahoo News cited a similar trend in Japan, in which “organic farming converts, rice-growing Tokyo fashionistas and other young greenfingers have trickled back into rural Japan where many farm towns have been slowly dying amid fast-greying Japan’s demographic crunch.”
If organic farming is trendy in the US, it’s downright chic in Japan. Ozawa cites Shiho Fujita, “a 24-year-old singer, music producer and model, is leading a squad of “gal” farmers who have cultivated rice in the countryside, and dishes out advice in her blog on growing zucchini and tomatoes,” as well as a former PR and communications businesswoman who has redirected her entrepreneurial energies toward her family’s farm. Will more stylish city gals and hip urban guys follow?
Though many of these farmers share common interests with their WWOOFing counterparts, there are some different motivations in Japan. Many of these young farmers are acting out of concern for Japan’s growing dependence on imports for food.
Whether they’re motivated by language, escapism, activism, nationalism, or aesthetics, more and more hip, educated, urban people are going back to the earth. Perhaps this is a sign that we’re coming full circle- after years of doing everything possible to disconnect from the natural world, we’re finally making a concerted effort to assume responsibility an interconnected ecosystem in which we have been playing a big part all along. Only time will tell if we follow through, but I’m hoping we do!
[Thanks Tara!]
