Protected areas: Chance or barrier for food quality in case of agriculture in Poland

Abstract

Summary The main aim of this paper is to present the relation between the state of the natural environment and the food quality produced on a given area. The two groups of analysed business activities are ecological farms and eco-friendly food processing plants. In the work, the author conducted a comparative analysis of the Polish voivodships with large and small shares of valuable natural areas in the total area of the voivodship in relation to the ecological farms and eco-friendly food processing plants. The problem discussed in this paper is poor quality of food. The main aim of the research was verification of the hypothesis that the quality of food is better if the food is produced in regions with a large scale of protected areas. The paper includes an analysis of the effect of the natural environment on the quality of food produced on a given area. There are 2 groups of entities affecting food quality: organic farms and eco-friendly food processing farms. For the first group, increasing demand for high quality food will determine the rise in quantities of sustainable agriculture farms offering organic products. Organic agriculture farms specialize in high quality food production. Eco-friendly food processing plants are the second group of entities affecting the quality of foodstuffs. Local food processing plants that use high quality raw material contribute to the high quality of final foodstuffs (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2011). The paper presents a comparative analysis of the voivodships in Poland with large and small participation of protected areas in the general area of the voivodship in relation to organic farms and eco-friendly food processing plants.