Michael S. Carolan

Dr. Carolan is Associate Dean for Research for the College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. His areas of expertise include environmental and agricultural law and policy, environmental sociology, the sociology of food systems and agriculture, and the sociology of technology and scientific knowledge. He also dabbles in social theory. He has published the following books: No One Eats Alone: Food as a Social Enterprise (2017); Biological Economies: Experimentation and the Politics of Agrifood Frontiers (2016; with Richard LeHeron, Hugh Campbell, and Nick Lewis); Food Utopias: Reimagining Citizenship, Ethics and Community (2015 with Paul Stock and Chris Rosin); Cheaponomics: The High Cost of Low Prices (2014); Society and the Environment: Pragmatic Solutions to Ecological Issues (2013); Reclaiming Food Security (2013); The Sociology of Food and Agriculture (2012); The Real Cost of Cheap Food (2011); Embodied Food Politics (2011); A Sociological Look at Biofuels: Understanding the Past/Prospects for the Future (2010); and Decentering Biotechnology: Assemblages Built and Assemblages Masked (2010). Dr. Carolan is also Co-Editor for the Journal of Rural Studies.

#ForewordFriday: Food as a Social Enterprise

By Katharine Sucher / On May 12th, 2017

While researching No One Eats Alone, sociologist Michael Carolan interviewed more than 250 individuals, from flavorists to Fortune 500 executives, politicians to feedlot managers, low-income families to crop scientists, who play a role in the life of food. Advertising consultants told him of efforts to distance eaters and producers—most food firms don’t want their customers thinking about farm laborers or the people living downstream of processing plants.

Finding Nourishment: A Conversation with Michael Carolan

By Katharine Sucher / On May 9th, 2017

Michael Carolan's No One Eats Alone: Food as a Social Enterprise is now available! We sat down with Carolan to talk about sustainable food, the process of writing the book, and why he claims that no one eats alone. Have more questions for Carolan? Share them in the comments below. In today’s world, people are constantly eating alone—whether at their desk or in the car. So why do you claim that No One Eats Alone?