Life on the farm
It’s time to stop and smell the manure: Farmstays, agritourism, and volunteer agricultural work opportunities around the globe
MSNBC, By Reid Bramblett ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL June 11 — If there’s one thing that connects and binds all human beings, across cultures and languages, races and religions, it’s agriculture. That might sound funny coming from a guy perched in a Manhattan office—who’s being read by folks squinting at glowing computer terminals—but think about it. CONVENTIONAL WISDOM holds that humanity as a collective culture began when our distant ancestors settled down in the fertile Tigris/Euphrates river valley and began cultivating the land and domesticating the more docile of the meat-on-the-hoof creatures handy. Our very existence as a social species with an advanced culture and ever more inventive tool-making capabilities (behold: the wristwatch PDA) has its roots sunk deep in the rich soil of agricultural pursuits. There’s a reason that farms in Europe are so heavily subsidized, that the amber waves of grain are immortalized in song. Agriculture is more than just a food source. Somewhere, deep down, we all realize that to lose our farmers would mean to lose something fundamental about our very way of life—even if all we do all day is sit inside the fat trunks of the glass-and-steel trees that forest our postmodern concrete jungles and tap away endlessly at the computer keyboard. Perhaps it’s that very disconnect from our species’ fundamental mode of survival and community life—sit still, plant food, raise livestock, be friendly to the neighbors—which is driving the development of the agritourism movement. Eugene Buchanan answered your questions on the rafting, canoeing and kayaking vacations. Read the transcript. AGRITOURISM Increasingly, those of us trapped in the cities, suburbias, and endless mallscapes of the so-called “developed” world are seeking out the simple pleasures of the farm life on vacation. (Farmers: we call them “simple pleasures” because we don’t actually have to get up at 4am to do back-breaking work all day only to watch some natural disaster or commodities market crisis wither the annual yield.) The phenomenon of agritourism has been spreading across the world and growing with each passing year, though it is most popular in Europe. To read about farmstay opportunities and networks in the US, click here. For the rest of the planet, read on. The concept behind agritourism (or rural tourism, or farm stays, or guest ranches, or farmhouse B&Bs, or whatever you want to call it) is simple: you spend the night as a guest on a working farm. From there, though, the concept flies off in many directions. Sometimes you just hole up for the night in a B&B converted from a farmhouse. Sometimes you actually stick around to do volunteer work for a few days (a week, two months, a year), as with Israel’s Kibbutzim or the worldwide WWOOF network (see sidebar). Sometimes, just renting a cottage in a rural area where sheep wander past your window is enough to count. WWOOF: Really getting your hands dirty The World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (www.wwoof.org ) is an collection of volunteer organizations in 20 countries around the world, from Australia to Korea, Ghana to the US, Italy to Nepal (plus dozens other "independent" members, countries with only a handful of opportunities). Each is devoted to supporting and helping teach about organic and environmentally sound farming techniques. You join the WOOF chapter in the country where you'd like to work (for roughly $10 to $40), it sends you a list of farms that would appreciate a helping hand in exchange for room and board. You must be willing to put in six hours of work six days a week to see how the farming half lives in a variety of nations. Ideally, the property’s owners live on-site and are farmers who derive the bulk of their income from agriculture, using this new-fangled form of tourism merely to help make ends meet. In some countries, the practice of agritourism is highly regulated; in others, it’s a wild west of opportunities, and you have to pick carefully to avoid spending the night in a barn atop a pile of hay (unless that’s what you want—I’ve done it, and it’s great; see “Switzerland,” below). From our neighbors to the north to our friends across the Atlantic, farm stays in Costa Rica to kibbutzim in Israel, agritourism in Australia to...well, you get the idea. And here’s where you can plant those ideas and watch them mature into vacations on farms around the world. The best part is, most charge only around $10 to $40 a night (though in Europe, prices can creep up to $100 or more on occasion for cushy farmhouse digs that put a four-star hotel to shame). AGRITOURISM ALL OVER Agritourism.net (www.agritourism.net)-Reps properties in Italy, United Kingdom, Hawaii, Canada, France, Spain, Israel, Australia. EuroGites, the European Federation for Farm and Village Tourism (www.eurogites.com)-A links page to 20 of the biggest and more shall we say "official" farm stay organizations in 17 European countries (most have Web site links, a few just contact info and email). Ranch Vacation (www.ranchvacation.com)-Ranch vacation opportunities, largely in North America and Europe, but at least one on each continent (including such esoterica as ranches in Sri Lanka and Mongolia) Turismo Rural (www.turismorural.com and www.ecoturismo.com)--Agritourism and ecotourism opportunities in the Hispanic (er, plus Portuguese) world--Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Mexico, Venezuela, and Panama. All in Spanish, sadly. NORTH AND SOUTH: CANADA & SOUTH AMERICA Argentina-Estancias in Patagonia (www.patagonia-travel.com/ingles/_estancias.html)-A passel of possibilities in Patagonia. Canada-Alberta Agri-Tourism-(www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/agritour.nsf)--Farm accommodations in Alberta Province Canada-BC Guest Ranch Association (www.bcguestranches.com)--Guest ranches in British Columbia, natch. Canada-Federation des Agricotours du Quebec (www.agricotours.qc.ca)--Nifty site, nicely laid out, about 28 farm stays in Quebec Province. Canada-Bottin de l'agrotourisme québécois (www.agrotourisme.com)--Quebec Province; under the Choix d'une catégorie" dropdown list you can choose "hérbergement a la ferme" (and then even narrow it down by Quebecois region). Very nice, and lots more than the 28 the other one gets you, but pourquois is the whole site only in French? Tres frustrating. Colombia- TurisColombia (www.turiscolombia.andes.com)--Muy bueno, but only en espanol. Costa Rica-National Group of Rural Communitarian Tourism (www.turismoruralcr.com)--A lovely site for a measly nine lodges, and only a couple are really working farms. Still, a good resource. Mexico-Bioplaneta (www.bioplaneta.com)--High tech web site devoted to low tech lifeways; many of the resources are for really more in the "ecotourism" vein, not agritourism, but they're all good. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC Austria-Urlaub am Bauernhof in Österreich (www.farmholidays.com)--Sprechen Sie farmstay? Some 3,400 farms across Austria do, and you can search them out here. Belgium-Gites de Wallonie (www.gitesdewallonie.net)--It ain't pretty, but it works--well, works with Wallonia. Croatia-Istria Country Tourist Association (www.istra.com/agroturizam)--About 30 farmstay joints in the Istrian Peninsula (the northern strip of Croatia's coast, up near Italy) Czech Republic- ECEAT, European Centre for Eco Agro Tourism CZ (www.czechitnow.com)--Czech out these great Czech agritourism resources. Unfortunately, what you get when you click on "Farms" is a cryptic list of ID tags such as "C 71: KREPICE" and "C 114: POTEC" (makes me want to shout out "You sunk my battleship!"); but if you click on "Show more details" button next to any of these properties, you get a plethora of information about it. Finland-Lomarengas, Finnish Country Holidays (www.lomarengas.fi)--130 Finnish Farm Holidays (plus a heap of Holiday Cottages). France-Bienvenue a la ferme (www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com)--In French; the "Hébergement" section has clicks for sejours/stays and camping, leading you to where you can rechercher/search) France-Gites de France (www.gites-de-france.fr)--Has English version and farm stays/camping amongst the options. Germany-Urlaub am Bauernhof (www.landtourismus.de)--Official site, in English, but only 53 options spread across Germany Germany-Bauernhof Urlaub (www.bauernhofurlaub.de)--Lots more options, but site only in German. Iceland-Icelandic Farm Holidays (www.farmholidays.is)--120 farms across the country, plus the ability to book whole vacation packages (throw in a rental car with your farm stay, etc.) Ireland-Irish Farm Holidays (www.irishfarmholidays.com)--B&Bs on working farms; for Northern Ireland check out the Northern Ireland Farm and Country Holidays Association (www.nischa.com). Israel-Kibbutz Program Center (www.kibbutzprogramcenter.org)--Everything you always wanted to know about volunteering on one of Israel's communal farming communities--except the bit they don't tell you, which so many volunteers have griped about, which is that, by and large, kibbutzniks look down on or at best ignore the volunteers, so you really don't actually get integrated in the socialist commune; you're just a glorified work horse. Italy-Official sites (www.terranostra.it, www.turismoverde.it, www.agriturist.it)--The three major national agritourism organizations/databases; unfortunately, all three are in Italian. Italy--Unofficial, but darned useful sites, and more likely to be in English (www.agritour.net, www.agriturismo.regione.toscana.it, www.agriturismo.net, www.agriturismo.com) Italy--Italy Farm Holidays (www.italyfarmholidays.com)--U.S. broker for Italian farmstays. Latvia--Latvian Country Tourism Association "Lauku celotajs" (www.traveller.lv)--Lovely little site for the lovely little land of Latvia, but for some reason you have to scroll through each property one-by-one (no list to peruse or clickable map). Luxembourg--Association pour la Promotion du Tourisme Rural au Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (www.gites.lu)--That's the longest association name for the smallest country on this list. Spiffy site, but a bit tricky to find the farms; what you do is click on "Online Catalog," then choosing "Holiday Apartments," then "Farm-style lodgings" The Netherlands--Dutch Farm Holiday Bureau (www.dutch-farmholidays.com) Norway--Visit Norway (www.visitnorway.com/en/functionality/accommodation)--Scroll down, and in addition to "Farm stay" you'll find such enticing options as "Fishermen's shack" and "Mountain huts" Portugal--Solares de Portugal (www.turihab.pt)--Click on Casas Rusticas Romania-ANTREC (www.antrec.ro)--Rural Romanian resources. Spain--ASETUR, Asociación Española de Turismo Rural (www.ecoturismorural.com)--Over 4,000 farmhouses across Espana; actually, they aren't located here. This is mainly a set of links to regional agritoursim Web sites through the country. Spain--A few additional regional sites include Galicia Turismo Rural (www.turismo-rural.com) for Asturias and Galicia regions; and in Catalonia www.turismerural.com and www.agroturismo.com. Sweden--Bo Pa Lantgard (www.bopalantgard.org)--Very well done site for Swedish farmstays, plus it's got a picture or a small child positively surrounded by pigs; you can't beat that. Switzerland-Ferien auf dem Bauernhof (www.bauernhof-ferien.ch)--250 farms across Switzerland, all bookable here. Switzerland-Schlaf im Stroh (www.abenteuer-stroh.ch)--The "Sleep in the Straw" network of 200 barns is a bit different agritourism idea. You're not such much staying on a working farm as you are sleeping in the barn while cows are grazing at higher pastures for the summer. The stalls are clean, as is the hay upon which you sleep (with the aid of some wool blankets). I, for one, love it, and the price (about $15) can't be beat. UK--Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.com)--If you go to the Where to Stay section of Britain's official tourism web site and search for a hotel, one of the criteria you can pick is "farm," and it'll spit back numerous responses (though only a sample of 80 if you don't specify something else besides "farm" on the search page, such as village, town, or city or a price range). UK--Farm Stay UK (www.farmstayuk.co.uk or 212.134.55.132/farmstayuk)--Buggy site, but if you can get it to work it lists 1,100 of the things all across the UK. ACROSS THE PACIFIC New Zealand-New Zealand Homestays & Farmstays (www.nzfarmstay.co.nz)—Another good site is www.ruraltours.co.nz. Australia—Australia Tourism Commission (www.australia.com)—The official tourism Web site has, if you poke around enough, once you get down to regional sections you can do an accommodations search and specify farmstay/homestay. Australia-Farm and Country Tourism Victoria (www.factv.com)—Good stuff, but just in Victoria. {Editor’s Note: Have you ever stayed on a farm? Do you know of resources besides the ones we’ve included here (we realize we didn’t hit every country or all the links pages out there, but we were tired and needed to go home)? Do you have an anecdote, tip or story to share that would be of use to your fellow travelers? We’d love to hear it and possibly reprint it in our letters to the editor column. Simply click here to send a letter to our editors.}