The Food Sharing Revolution: How Start-Ups, Pop-Ups, and Co-Ops are Changing the Way We Eat

Sociologist Michael Carolan at Colorado State University has assembled a series of case studies through interviews with a wide range of individuals across the country who have invested in the idea of sharing for sustainability. Looking at the various types of sharing, the practices are grouped into three primary categories: access to material things, generating knowledge, and fostering community. In this light, he looks at Uber and Airbnb, farmers, small business owners, cooks, kitchen businesses, cooperatives, and other small start-ups. The personal stories told by the interviewees humanize the challenges faced by small entities.

Agricultural and food safety regulations are designed to regulate large corporations, and these legal demands restrict the small owner from meeting these requirements. Megabusinesses impose legal directives on their product use, and money to start businesses is a problem. Read how through sharing practices, seed libraries, low-interest loans, and cooperation some individuals and groups are able to amalgamate and succeed in profiting in their businesses while bonding with their communities. Through this series of interviews, the reader learns of the positive aspects of this goal of food sharing along with the myriad difficulties encountered along this path.