StoryPeople | Fair Trade at Penn State Brandywine

As the fall semester gets underway, my time as the summer intern is coming to a close. This will be my last post as the official fair trade intern. I enjoyed updating the Penn State Brandywine fair trade blog and social media sites over the summer, and I look forward to taking part in the fair trade events that are going to be taking place on campus this school year. Be sure to check this blog, as well as our Facebook and Twitter to receive updates on upcoming events. I am handing over the fair trade internship to Leshaun Warner, who I know will do an excellent job as the fall semester intern.

On the 26th, I will be leaving to spend time as an undergraduate research assistant in Borneo, Indonesia. I will be volunteering for seven weeks with the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop) and earning course credit as a Penn State Brandywine student. While I’m away, I’ll be keeping my eyes open for fair trade related products. I also hope to gain firsthand insight on the environmental and social challenges facing developing countries, challenges which fair trade attempts to alleviate.

I encourage all Penn State Brandywine students to not only consider becoming a Fair Trade Trailblazer but to take advantage of the opportunities that only occur at a smaller campus. I do not think that I would be having the opportunity to earn Penn State credit in Borneo as an undergrad if I had not attended Penn State Brandywine. I wish the Fair Trade Trailblazers the best of luck and I look forward to continuing my involvement with the campus fair trade program when I return.

Contributed by Fair Trade Intern Megan Draper

Before I start writing the posts for Penn State Brandywine’s fair trade blog this summer, I thought I should introduce myself. My name is Megan Draper and I will be the fair trade intern for Summer 2013. I am a senior at Penn State Brandywine and a psychology major. My goal is to pursue a career in primatology (the study of nonhuman primates), which is one of the reasons I have become interested in fair trade. Although equity and social justice are the primary (and important!) motivators of a fair trade system, environmental concerns are also weighed when a product is deemed “fair trade.” For most primate species to survive in the wild during the coming decades, the sustainability of human food systems is a must, and fair trade is one way to improve food production. Despite my initial interest through primatology, the more I learned about fair trade, the more I became passionate about fair trade in and of itself. I hope to share what I find particularly important about fair trade through this blog, and I hope to hear from you in the comments and on our PSU Brandywine Fair Trade Facebook and Twitter.

Contributed by Fair Trade Intern Megan Draper