Planting ideas through images; the making of a documentary.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Woof!

I learned a new word yesterday. I was listening to a radio interview taped a few years ago, the show Local Hero. Don Roberts, the co-owner of Elsie's Farm, and his son Alexander, the chef at Alma, were on air to discussing organic food, their relationship as grower and purveyor, health and healing, finding one's bliss, community supported agriculture and the cooperative movement, amongst other topics.

Don gave a rapid fire list of all the people it took to run Elsie's Farm, and mentioned wwoofers, a word the host, Brett Olson, quickly seized on. Having been involved with Elsie's Farm for five years, I didn't know the term either.

A wwoofer, it turns out, does not mean the bass resound in your audio speaker, but is an acronym for "world wide opportunities on organic farms." The WWOOF website puts people in touch with organic farms that could use their labor in exchange for housing and meals. Like couch sitting, only for those with a green thumb and a yen, not just to wander the earth, but love it, and get your hands dirty with it.

Elsie's Farm, the place, and Dirty Work, the movie, were enlivened by many young people that happened to be around at the time we were shooting; Jeff, Kristen, and William, in particular. I'm glad to learn about wwoofers because I have the feeling, after seeing this, others like them will want to get involved.

WWoof! Wwoof!

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