WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

By Mario Ritter
Broadcast: July 8, 2003
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Recently, a listener in Nigeria told us about an organization called World-Wide Opportunities on Organic¹ Farms or WWOOF [pronounced woof]. This organization helps people learn about 1)organic farms around the world by working on them as a kind of holiday.
Sue² Coppard started WWOOF in nineteen-seventy-one in England. She started by helping³ four people work for a weekend on an organic farm in the area called 2)Sussex.
Organic farms do not use chemical fertilizers⁴ or poisons to kill insects that might harm crops. Such farms require a lot of extra work. WWOOF links people who want to learn organic farming methods with farmers who need work done. The farmers provide their visitors with a place to sleep and food to eat. The visitors agree to work on the farm without being paid. Taking part in the program is commonly called WWOOFing.
At first, the organization was called Working Weekends on Organic Farms. Later, it was called Willing Workers on Organic Farms. In two-thousand-two, World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms held its first international conference. WWOOF 3) representatives tried to organize different national groups and establish rules for WWOOFers.
There are about twenty national WWOOF organizations. They are in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Farms accepting visitors may also be in other countries. These are included on a list of WWOOF independents. Farms can be listed on the Internet. They pay about thirty to fifty dollars to be listed.
World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms includes many different kinds of farms. WWOOF says on its Web site that the farms generally do not use 4)chemicals or 5)poisons. They may be large or small farms. They also may be linked to communities. Independent WWOOF farms may not be completely organic.
WWOOFers should expect to work about six hours a day, six days a week. They might be asked to care for animals, plant crops, or do any other kind of farm work. WWOOF does not help with travel papers or work permits. It is important to discuss all details with host farms because workers are not paid and must know what to expect.
You can learn more about World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms at its Web site, www.wwoof.org.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

注释：
1) organic [C:5^Anik] adj.有机的, 组织的
2) Sussex [5sQsiks] n.苏塞克斯(英国一郡)
3) representative [7repri5zentEtiv] n.代表
4) chemical [5kemikEl] n.化学制品
5) poison [5pCizn] n.毒药

1 organic   

adj.有机的，有机物的；有组织的

参考例句：

• Organic farming is expanding everywhere.有机农业正在各地迅速发展起来。
• The organic fertilizer shall keep the soil in good heart.这有机肥一定会使土壤保持肥沃。

2 sue   

vt.控告，起诉；vi.请求，追求，起诉

参考例句：

• If you don't pay me the money,I'll sue you.如果你不付给我钱，我就告你。
• The war criminals sue for peace.战犯求和。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 fertilizers   

肥料，化肥( fertilizer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the long-term effects of fertilizers 肥料的长远影响
• Crushed bones make one of the best fertilizers. 骨粉是最佳肥料之一。