Determinants of spatial concentration of short food supply chains on example of marginal, localized and restricted activities in Poland

Abstract

The article analyses spatial concentration of marginal, localized and restricted activities creating local food systems in Poland regarded as short supply chains. Local food systems in Poland can take the forms of direct sale, direct deliveries, agricultural retail as well as marginal, localized and restricted activities. Short food supply chains play crucial role in case of local economy, environment and society. Thus, article rises issue connected with sustainability, alternatives for mass produced and distributed food, spatial diversity of local activities. Empirical part of the article focus on marginal, localized and restricted activities. The first part of the article contains a characteristic of the analyzed activities and their spatial distribution. The second part identifies factors that have the strongest influence on the formation of marginal, localized and restricted activities with the application of nonparametric models of regression trees. It is reported that spatial and environmental factors occur most frequently in the process of recurrent division of the data set and, thus, constitute the strongest determinant of marginal, localized and restricted activities.