Fundamentally, WWOOF serves as a means of allowing travelers access to low cost accommodation
during their vacation. Typically, volunteers are required to work on the farm for a set number of hours
(usually between 20 and 30 per week) in exchange for room and board. In some cases, farmers may
elect to pay WWOOFers an extra stipend for spending money. The cost of transportation to the farm
site is typically borne by the volunteer. The quality and comfort of the accommodations can vary
widely from farm to farm. In some cases, WWOOFers are given an interior room with air conditioning.
In others they may be sleeping in tents or rustic cabins (Pickard, 2008; WWOOF-USA, 2014).
Meal provisions are also quite variable. At some farms, WWOOFers can expect high quality homecooked
meals with the host family and/or other volunteers. In other cases, they may be granted a food
stipend and/or stockpile of food along with cooking facilities to prepare their own meals. Sometimes a
portion of the seasonal food is gleaned directly from the farm. Often host farms advertise the quality of
their meals or adaptability to vegetarian and vegan diets as an added measure of attraction. Indeed the
character of room and board at each host farm becomes part of the overall calculation that prospective
volunteers must make when deciding on which farm to visit (Pickard, 2008).
Prospective WWOOFers use the WWOOF-USA website in order to select farms based on location or
specialization. Each farm gives a description of their farm, expectations for work and accommodation
and any other relevant information to give WWOOFers a general sense of what the experience will
entail. The website also provides previous WWOOFer-generated feedback about the farms to add more
transparency for prospective volunteers. WWOOFers can then contact a farm that interests them to
check on availability and overall fit. WWOOFers also maintain their own profile which provides feedback
from farmers, and gives future hosts some limited ability to identify possible conflicts with prospective
volunteers.