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'WWOOFing' to a future in organic farming

In a world of endless choices, it can be hard to make a decision about what you are going to do with your life. But after much back and forth Ira Bernstein thinks he’s found it. The thing that will make him happy, content, fulfilled ... is farming.
CBC Radio ·
Silver Rapids Farm is located in Chisholm Township, Ontario and run by David and Anne Dockendorff. (Felicia Latour/CBC)
The Doc Project27:30WWOOFing to a future in organic farming

In a world of endless choices, it can be hard to make a decision about what you are going to do with your life.

But after much back and forth Ira Bernstein thinks he's found it. The thing that will make him happy, content, fulfilled ... is farming. After an experience "WWOOFing" — volunteering on an organic farm for room and board — he was hooked.

David Dockendorff (left) and Ira Bernstein working with the lambs on the Silver Rapids Farm. (Felicia Latour/CBC)

If you've grown up in the city, like Ira, becoming a farmer is not a straightforward career path. A life of toiling the fields and tending to livestock would be a huge departure from the future his tight-knit, urban-Jewish family had envisioned for him. So, why farming? Will this be the dream that takes root?

Producer's Notebook

Doc­making on a farm (aka life on the lamb)

By Felicia Latour

When I pitched this doc, I never thought the CBC would go for it. Here I was, this novice docmaker, asking for three weeks of tape­-gathering (that's a lot of tape) while living (and working) on a farm in the middle of nowhere. 

But, by some miracle, they went for it. And I'm so glad they did, because this ended up being one of the single greatest adventures I've had.

Don't get me wrong — farming is hard. Part of why I wanted to make this doc was my city­ girl fascination with rural living, but while having some inclination of the challenges of farming, I wasn't entirely prepared for how tough it can be. Continue reading →

About the producer

Felicia Latour
Felicia Latour has worked for the CBC in the radically different worlds of western Newfoundland and downtown Toronto, chasing stories as a reporter and then producer, respectively. She is a graduate of Queen's University, and the School of Journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax.

Also from this episode | The change in farming

For many, farming runs in the blood and continuing the family farm is a way to preserve family heritage. Adam Goddard isn't a farmer but he still wants to honour where his family has come from, in his own way. This classic radio doc was produced in 1998 by Steve Wadhams and Adam Goddard.

The Doc Project11:41The change in farming
For many, farming runs in the blood and continuing the family farm is a way to preserve family heritage. Adam Goddard isn't a farmer but he still wants to honour where his family has come from, in his own way.

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