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