Cornelia Flora

• PhD, MS Cornell University
• Professor at Kansas State University

Just and fair transitions to low-carbon and nature-positive ways of living need to occur fast enough to limit and reverse the climate and nature crises, but not so fast that the public is left behind. We propose the concept of “Regenerative Good Growth” (RGG) to replace the language and practice of extractive, bad GDP growth. RGG centres on the ser...

What? A dataset containing 313 total variables from 33 secondary sources. There are 261 unique variables, and 52 variables that have the same measurement but are reported for a different year; e.g. average farm size in 2017 (CapitalID: N27a) and 2022 (N27b). Variables were grouped by the community capital framework's seven capitals—Natural (96 tot...

The concept of well-being of rural families is part of a theory under construction in which new theoretical elements are constantly being incorporated. This research aims to determine the influence of farmers’ knowledge on the well‑being of cocoa growing families in the departments of Santander, Huila, Meta and Caquetá, Colombia. Four categories of...

Household food consumption is a major driver of environmental impacts globally. Promoting sustainable consumption practices is crucial for addressing the challenges of resource depletion, food waste, and climate change. This study investigates the role of media literacy in fostering sustainable consumption awareness and behavior. A total of 432 Ira...

Promoting food consumption patterns based on a sustainable future in low-income households is important in reducing food waste, particularly in light of global population growth. This study presents an innovative approach to assess nutrient intake efficiency by prioritizing the selection of desirable and undesirable foods, thereby minimizing food w...

Biodiesel is a renewable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional diesel fuel. It can be used in existing diesel engines without any modifications. Produced from various sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease, biodiesel emits fewer pollutants during combustion compared to petroleum diesel. However, it...

Climate variability affects agricultural production systems and rural communities, generating risks to food security and increasing rural poverty. Therefore, improving the capacity of rural households to adapt to climate variability has become one of the greatest challenges for international and national institutions. The objective of this study is...

Many students find environmental justice to be emotionally overwhelming and/or politically alienating, and there is currently little work that provides instructors with effective techniques for addressing these types of challenges. In this paper, upon situating the environmental studies classroom and the broader undergraduate experience in sociohis...

Improving sustainable food security status, nowadays, is an important challenge globally, especially in developing countries. The policy goal should be equity—everyone has the same opportunity to be food secure—rather than equality—everyone gets the same subsidy. Since the culture and socioeconomic status within a country vary from region to region...

Background Paying particular attention to sustainable food consumption in low-income households is essential for increasing human health. Due to the growing population globally, this concept will likely become more serious soon. Methods Following the importance of optimizing food consumption for sustainability, in this study, a novel methodology i...

Regional optimization of food consumption is an appropriate way to reduce food waste, improve sustainability in food consumption pattern, and increase the nutrition security of consumers. This study provides a comprehensive technique for calculating the nutrient efficiency score (NES) of Iranian households based on food consumption patterns during...

Cacao cultivation is one of the most important livelihoods for rural households in Colombia, where it is promoted as a substitute for the illegal cultivation of coca. To strengthen Colombian cacao farming, it is important to understand the livelihood strategies associated with cacao cultivation and the impact of these different strategies on the we...

Production for self-provisioning contributes to food security in rural territories; however, studies have indicated that this capacity is limited. We analyzed the impact of livelihood strategies on self-provisioning conditions in 162 rural households in the department of Huila, Colombia. We analyzed: a. source of foods; b. composition of home garde...

Background Paying particular attention to sustainable food consumption in low-income households is essential ‎for reducing food waste. Due to the growing population globally, this concept will likely become more ‎serious soon. Methods Following the importance of optimizing food consumption for ‎sustainability, in this study, a novel methodology is...

This study aims to evaluate whether having an overweight/obese child, gender disparities and socio-economic factors can be a predictor of food insecurity among Afghan refugee households in Tehran province in Iran. The paper was carried out by cross-sectional data analysis. Household Food Insecurity Assess Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire was circulated...

Objectives In this study, socio-economic factors associated with Afghan refugee households’ food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality, and food intake were determined. Design Household Food Insecurity Assess Scale (HFIAS) measurement was applied to assess food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality, and insu...

Objective This study aimed to identify and rank the different aspects of households’ vulnerability to food insecurity. Design The data was collected by a standard online questionnaire. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess food insecurity levels, and first-order structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to dete...

Objective This study aimed to identify and rank the different aspects of households' vulnerability to ‎‎food insecurity. ‎ Design The data was collected by a standard online questionnaire. The Household Food Insecurity ‎‎Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess food insecurity levels, and first-order structural ‎‎equation modeling (SEM) was applied...

India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglect...

Production for self-provisioning contributes to food security in rural territories; however, studies have indicated that this capacity is limited. We analyze the impact of livelihood strategies on self-provisioning conditions in 162 rural households in the department of Huila, Colombia. Different topics were examined: a. source of the food; b. comp...

Currently, the COVID-19 outbreak is spreading fast in 185 countries and has engaged most people around the world. COVID-19 imposes severe and tragic consequences on people’s health due to the high rate of spread and potentially fatal impacts. In this study, the association of socio-economic factors with food security and dietary diversity is assess...

This study analyzes caloric intake in Iran as a proxy for food security to determine factors associated with caloric intake that could be impacted by policies. We modeled regional heterogeneity by analyzing a complete countrywide dataset disaggregated for rural intra-provincial areas using unique data from the Iranian Statistical Centre for 2007–20...

Non-technical summary Until the past half-century, all agriculture and land management was framed by local institutions strong in social capital. But neoliberal forms of development came to undermine existing structures, thus reducing sustainability and equity. The past 20 years, though, have seen the deliberate establishment of more than 8 million...

The Midwestern U.S. landscape is one of the most highly altered and intensively managed ecosystems in the country. The predominant crops grown are maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr]. They are typically grown as monocrops in a simple yearly rotation or with multiple years of maize (2 to 3) followed by a single year of soybean. T...

The Community Development Master's Program is an inter-institutional, trans-disciplinary degree program that began in 2005 online at five participating universities in the North Central region. This article discusses outcomes of interviews with current and past students in the program to determine if a multi-institutional program, versus a program...

The sustainable intensification of agricultural systems offers synergistic opportunities for the co-production of agricultural and natural capital outcomes. Efficiency and substitution are steps towards sustainable intensification, but system redesign is essential to deliver optimum outcomes as ecological and economic conditions change. We show glo...

We demonstrate that social capital is associated with positive food security outcomes, using survey data from 378 households in rural Uganda. We measured food security with the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. For social capital, we measured cognitive and structural indicators, with principal components analysis used to identify key factors...

The purpose of this paper is to determine farmers' willingness to adopt and allocate land for growing non-food oilseeds as bio-energy crops across the western US. A mail survey was conducted in three regions of the western US from randomly selected wheat farmers. Data was analyzed using Heckman's two stage selection model to correct for selection b...

In this article we analyze the community capital implications of an emerging canola biofuel value chain within wheat-producing regions of the United States as radical changes are taking place in energy markets and prices drop. We analyze the intersections of the motivations that encourage and sustain value chain participation and stocks and investm...

A growing biofuels industry requires the devel- opment of effective methods to educate farmers, govern- ment, and agribusiness about biofuel feedstock produc- tion if the market is going to significantly expand beyond first generation biofuels. Extension and outreach educa- tion provides a conduit for important research, knowledge and information t...

While many English speaking community developers are familiar with the early work of popular education in Latin America that sprang up during years of dictatorship, most are not aware of the advances in theory and practice our Latin American and Caribbean colleagues created during the era of re-democratization from the mid-1980s into the second dec...

Culture determines the way humans see the world, including how they link the seen and the unseen. It emerges as humans interact with each other and their environments. As a result, culture both shapes and justifies behavior, human interactions, and collective identity, including those related to food, water, and fiber production, processing, procur...

Adaptation to climate change is greatly enhanced when it occurs across a landscape. Agricultural and herding communities are important loci of adaptation. Women’s knowledge and practices can help in determining new community livelihood strategies. Community adaptation is hindered when land grabs limit access to land for crops and animals. New forms...

Agriculture and natural resources Extension professionals face increasing challenges in delivering evidence-based information to clients. Illustrated design guidelines may offer one tool for presenting useful information, particularly when delivering assistance for multifunctional solutions. Using conservation buffers as the technical topic, the st...

Women are an increasing proportion of the paid agricultural labor force. They tend to be a part of flexible labor force that falls outside of normal labor protection and worker benefits. They are further vulnerable due to their gender and gender-related specific legal status-. Organization and legislation and its enforcement can contribute to gende...

The following is an interview with Dr. Cornelia Flora, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University. Dr. Flora has led an amazingly rich career in partnership with her husband, Jan Flora, also a Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University where they developed the Community Capitals Framework and have engage...

As cropping systems are changed to produce cellulosic energy crops, there will often be accompanying changes in land use, personal, group and community opportunities. By looking at the potential impact of cellulosic energy cropping systems on human communities in terms of community assets and their interactions, the potential impacts can be anticip...

The following is an interview with Dr. Cornelia Flora, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University. Dr. Flora has led an amazingly rich career in partnership with her husband, Jan Flora, also a Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University where they developed the Community Capitals Framework and have engage...

The end of the Second World War resulted in an economic boom in Midwestern rural communities. Local retailers satisfied pent-up demand for consumer goods. Farmers came to town to shop and visit on Saturday nights and all the stores were open late. New service clubs emerged, movie theaters expanded, and local baseball and basketball teams drew large...

Social sustainability is the capacity to create personal, social, political and economic environments that facilitate healthy human existence as part of the entire global ecosystem. As cropping systems are changed to produce cellulosic energy crops, there will often be accompanying changes in land use, personal, group and community opportunities, ....

Human wellbeing depends on nature, but in spite of much work by and since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, it is not clear whether existing frameworks adequately analyze this relationship given our increasing market based societies. We report on a reassessment of this situation, developed at the recent workshop “Quantification of Ecosystem Serv...

Soil degradation is a critical and growing global problem. As the world population increases, pressure on soil also increases and the natural and the natural capital of soil faces continuing decline, international policy makers have recognized this and a range of initiatives to address it have emerged over recent years. However, a gap remains betwe...

Agroecology has helped produce a movement where consumers are concerned about more than price. The qualities sought include the process by which a product is grown or produced. When supply-chains are long, it is difficult to know whether to believe any particular production quality claimed on a label. This review describes the evolution of market,...

Integrating immigrants in local food systems involves negotiations be - tween complex meaning systems. An experience in working with immigrants and local food efforts in two Iowa communities shows that new social relationships are intersected by critical aspects such as trust (a component of social capital), political power (political capital), kno...

Environmental protection if left solely to state actors in the USA can be erratic, as political winds change quickly, blowing funding and support with them. Market actors hold enormous economic and therefore political power. This chapter examines a particular watershed (Raccoon River watershed) and civil society (the Raccoon River Watershed Associa...

Adaptation Coalitions are community groups that come together as an internal coalition and form alliances with outside groups in order to achieve common desired futures around climate change vulnerability and impacts. This method was tested and refined in over twenty communities in five Latin American countries—Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Rep...

The Adaptation Coalition Toolkit was developed to promote the World Bank’s strategic priority to empower people by creating more inclusive, cohesive, and accountable societies in the face of climate change. The framework for this Toolkit was developed from testing its implementation over a two-year period in 24 Latin American case study communities...

For Native American Indians in theUnited States, initial efforts at vocational education by the Federal Government were intended to ‘deculturalize’ the students, by removing them from their place, their religion, their language and their native crops and practices. Girls were taught to be domestic servants and boys to be farm hands and factory work...