Would you like to find cheap travel, good food, a way to support sustainable farmers, and the experience of a life time? Just WWOOF!

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is the up and coming way for youth to see the world. According to The Independent in the UK, the number of youth volunteering in WWOOF locations increased from 1,600 in 2005 to 9,000 in 2010! I asked 21-year-old WWOOFer, Emilie Barnett, to tell us what all the fuss is about.

“I heard about it from a friend, and it seemed like a cool thing to do.” Barnett spent ten days in a little community, about one hour outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. Barnett and her friend decided that they wanted to travel, and WWOOF was cheaper than hostel-hopping between towns. They looked at the WWOOF catalog of options, and said, “Let’s go for it!”

Pretty much everyone, including me, has heard before of the Humane Society, PETA, and other organizations that fight for humane treatment of animals—but until recently, I never realized the true gravity of the issue of animal cruelty. I watched a documentary called Food Inc., which, among other food and health topics, discussed the horrible treatment of the animals that we slaughter to eat. The descriptions of animal suffering and abuse disturbed and disgusted me—enough to do some more research into the topic on my own.

When you look at a cheeseburger patty, you see the singed grill lines. And you smell the onions, and the fresh peppers, and the tang of the mustard, and you taste the juices and spices. But it’s what you don’t see that should concern you more. According to the Mercy for Animals organization, the Humane Society, PETA, and the Food Inc. documentary, many of the animals that we consume suffer from diseases like cancer, tumors, and bloody open wounds, and receive no medical treatment even though workers and companies are completely aware of their injuries. Farm chickens live in sheds with levels of ammonia considered dangerous to humans. Turkeys with infected wounds are slaughtered, boiled, and packaged. They’re all killed, healthy or not—and we eat them. Read more...

With additional reporting by Ana Beatriz and Adania Navarro.

I am a city girl from L.A., and until this summer the closest I had ever been to a farm was a petting zoo called Green Meadows Farms in Los Angeles County. Most of what I knew about country living, I learned from watching "Green Acres" on TV Land.

That all changed when this city girl made her first trip to the country with friends 4 hours outside of Los Angeles.

JAMES (On Tape) Read more...