Economic, social and environmental impact

The Local Products from Malopolska local food system was intiated by the Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation as a collaborative venture with small farmers, food producers, local governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to connect (mostly rural) food producers to (mostly urban) consumers in a systematic and ongoing way. Local Products from Malopolska is operated by the Foundation as a promotion, distribution and sales system for local products. Our ambition is to increase scale and impact in terms of numbers of participating producers and consumers, range of products offered for sale and sales volume.

Local Products from Malopolska generates economic, environmental and social impacts by making the food economy of Krakow and Malopolska more local and more sustainable:

Economic benefits:

Local food distribution system enables farmers to focus on farming, and increase the volume and variety of crops and livestock. Locally-grown food is delivered to shops, restaurants, institutions, and encourages development of more value‐added processing facilities. Money spent on local food circulates 8 to 15 times in local economy bringing sustainable recession‐proof jobs, increased tax base, and increased farmers’ income.

Environmental benefits:

Farms and working landscapes provide carbon sequestration, stormwater management, water filtration and maintain ecological networks and habitats for biodiversity. Reduced emissions come with shorter food miles. Citizens walk or bike to more and more farmers’ markets and locally‐owned grocery stores. Fewer cars means smaller parking lots and more land for other uses.

Social benefits:

Increased awareness about food and access to high‐quality, nutritious, local food lowers rate of obesity, type II diabetes, heart disease and other diet‐related illnesses, reducing health costs and increasing quality of life. Farms, farmers’ markets and the countryside become gathering places and destinations that encourage active lifestyles and foster rediscovery of local cultural and cultural heritage.