Wwoofer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who volunteers on organic farms, receiving meals and a place to stay as compensation for their labor
2. A person participating in an arrangement where they work on farms in return for food and accommodation benefits
3. An individual who engages in agricultural work on organic farms, usually in exchange for lodging and meals to support sustainable practices

Etymology: "WWOOFer" is a volunteer farm worker who takes part in WWOOF, an arrangement in which people work on organic farms in exchange for food and lodging. The word is built from the acronym "WWOOF" with the ordinary English suffix "-er," which marks someone who does a particular activity, so a WWOOFer is simply one who does WWOOF. The acronym itself is the more interesting part. It began as "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms," a name that reflected the scheme's aim of linking volunteers with organic farms across many countries. Over time the organisation's name changed, and the acronym is now often explained in other ways, so the older expansion is the one that explains the letters as originally coined.