On Tuesday, April 16, Kristi Syrdahl, director of international student services at Elizabethtown College, offered her presentation for her first Called to Lead event entitled “Leading Social Change Across Cultures”
“It’s value based; it revolves around a core of service as a vehicle for social change,” said Syrdahl of her work with Fair Trade USA, Equal Exchange and Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation (SERRV). These three partner non-profit organizations endeavor to take products made by farmers and workers in lower-class societies, and sell them in the United States and around the world to support the workers and their communities. “They don’t want anybody thinking that anyone is taking money. You’re not paying the producer. It’s all about transparency and, to me, what is so beautiful is that the companies that sell fair-trade products, Equal Exchange or SERRV, are 100 percent transparent. There is no leader; they all have an equal part in every decision that they make so that’s the way to go, but it’s all about transparency.” Syrdahl discussed how these companies possess very similar principles and values to those of TOMS Shoes in how they sell their product and then return any money made directly back to the people who need it most.
Syrdahl has been involved with these companies for quite some time, and her fascination began at a young age. “It’s something that I have been passionate about for many years. I remember going into a college interview and one of my dreams was I wanted to have a co-op where I would educate women to be farmers. It was just in my brain without knowing it existed really,” she said.
Syrdahl’s passion grew even more when her mother treated her to a chocolate bar made by a Fair Trade organization which she had received from their church. Syrdahl began investigating the Fair Trade company and was forever hooked. “I just loved the idea of supporting people, what they do, what is intrinsic to their land and what is natural from it,” Syrdahl said. “There are a lot of religiously-affiliated organizations that support fair trade, so what they will do is purchase items in bulk and then sell them, which is what I have been doing here on campus.”
One may wonder how a student can get involved in a fair-trade organization. Syrdahl suggested one way. “Elizabethtown College can become a part of a student-run organization for colleges and universities for fair-trade,” she said. Students can join and attend conferences and lectures as well as request fair trade products be sold in places such as the Blue Bean. “People may say it’s too expensive, but I think that the College’s mission is so interwoven with the principles of fair trade and the principles of the social change leadership model that if somebody was to put it forward in that way, I really do believe that we could see that change.” Syrdahl feels confident that if more people were to learn about fair trade and its mission, they would be more willing to get involved and to pay the extra money to buy all their products from fair-trade organizations. Syrdahl hopes that on day everyday products such as chocolate or bananas will not come from big name brands, but from the people who harvest them in the countries they actually originate.
Sophomore Kristopher Davis also believes that it is easy for Etown students to get involved. He said, “The fair trade presentation really hit home as an Etown student because we preach, ‘Educate for Service,’ and the presentation told us…how small decisions that we make can have big results for other people.”
Despite its noble intentions, not many people are aware of the Fair Trade Organization. Syrdahl believes that everyone should know about these organizations and stated, “It promotes a handicraft for the country. There are a thousand different reasons why it matters, but most people have never heard of fair trade. It promotes social justice, and it promotes equity. It saves children from being exploited, and it saves people. If you can empower people to use the skills they already have to support the industries that they are already running, it’s remarkable.” Syrdahl believes that eventually these companies will become well-known, and it is her hope that one day buying these products will be the norm. “You have to promote it; you have to know about it. If people don’t know about it, they are not going to buy it,” she said.
Fair Trade, Equal Exchange and SERRV are all easy to get involved in. Their numerous and varied products can be found online, and more products are showing up in stores everywhere.
Syrdahl said, “it’s really extraordinary to support what somebody does naturally and organically and in a way that also brings pleasure to other people; it makes me feel good to know that I’m helping.”
