“A rewarding and very enriching human experience”: wwoofing, another way to discover the Landes and its farmers

Around twenty farms welcome WWOOFers in the Landes department. A different way to travel, while discovering and supporting the Landes peasant agriculture.

Get up at 7 a.m. Clean the milking dock. Go to the cheese dairy to wash up the cheeses molded that morning. Feed the chickens. Then spend the afternoon enjoying the countryside or walking in the Landes region. Despite appearances, for several weeks, this was the daily routine of Catherine Dumont, 65, a retired accountant who lives near Meaux, in Seine-et-Marne.

To navigate this unusual daily routine, Catherine turned to the practice of wwoofing. An acronym that stands for "Working Weekends on Organic Farms." The concept is summed up by Cécile Paturel, an employee of the Wwoof France association: "Live and learn by helping organic and peasant farms, where you are welcomed like a friend who comes to lend a helping hand."

Through this, Catherine came across one of the association's 20 member farms in the Landes region. This was the mission proposed by Gilles Destenabes, a goatherd, cheesemaker, and farmer since 2016 in the commune of Pécorade, a stone's throw from Geaune. For the second time this year, she visited the site with her friend Annick.

For her, WWOOFing is a way to stay active and feel useful. "I need to move, and giving of myself is something that speaks to me," says the woman who is already on her eighth WWOOFing mission. To choose her destinations, Catherine uses filters on the app to select the regions and type of mission that interest her. She came to Gilles Destenabes because she wanted to take care of goats. "The goats' cuddles are great, I didn't think it could be so cuddly," she exclaims.

Catherine and her friend also make time to explore the region. They visited Mont-de-Marsan and Eugénie-les-Bains during their stay in Pécorade. "We coordinate with him" to organize day trips, she explains. It's a way for WWOOFers to discover a new region while helping a farmer.

Gilles has been welcoming WWOOfers since launching his business, based on an idea from his daughter, who herself had done a lot of WWOOFing. For him, it's a way to have company: "Otherwise, I'm all alone with my goats and my dog," he says. It also gives him extra motivation. "It allows me to undertake work that I wouldn't necessarily have done alone. And sometimes, carrying something with two people is easier," he admits.

However, Gilles Destenabes warns against the idealized vision of WWOOFing. He favors long-term stays on his farm, as it takes time to explain how his farm works, especially to people interested in real-life learning. But he insists that the woofers are there to "help" and not to be "free or hidden labor."

The breeder appreciates the exchanges with those who come to learn the trade or discover the region. He has seen vocations emerge thanks to this experience. A WWOOFer he hosted subsequently attended a shepherd's school in Pau. The young man is now a mountain shepherd, a career path that Gilles helped to spark. "Before settling down, it's interesting to be able to train and see different methods on several farms," ​​he adds.

Wwoofing allows us to "reconnect with the living and our food" by recognizing "the lack of access to land," explains Cécile Paturel. For Catherine Dumont, it's a "human, rewarding, and very enriching experience." "The hosts become friends, it's often difficult to leave, there are sometimes tears. That's why we go back, by the way," she assures, describing Wwoofing as "something to do at least once in your life." According to her, "this type of mutual aid is something that's missing."

A mindset that fits perfectly with Wwoof France. "What we're promoting is a popular education project that still believes in mutual aid. We see that it exists, that it works, and it gives us faith in humanity," adds Cécile Paturel.

Catherine Dumont says she's "eager to get going again" and is already looking for a new WWOOFing mission in October. This time, why not explore viticulture and basketry in the Creuse region?