Improving the eco-efficiency of food systems is one of the major global challenges faced by the modern world. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are commonly regarded to be less harmful to the environment, among various reasons, due to their organizational distribution and thus the shortened physical distance between primary producers and final consumers. In this paper, we empirically test this hypothesis, by assessing and comparing the environmental impacts of short and long food supply chains. Based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, we calculate eco-efficiency indicators for nine types of food distribution chains. The analysis is performed on a sample of 428 short and long food supply chains from six European countries. Our results indicate that, on average, long food supply chains may generate less negative environmental impacts than short chains (in terms of fossil fuel energy consumption, pollution, and GHG emissions) per kg of a given product. The values of eco-efficiency indicators display a large variability across analyzed chains, and especially across different types of SFSCs. The analysis shows that the environmental impacts of the food distribution process are not only determined by the geographical distance between producer and consumer, but depend on numerous factors, including the supply chain infrastructure.

The negative impact of agriculture on the natural environment is not a new issue. One of the ideas to overcome this problem is the eco-efficiency concept, analyzing the agricultural output in relation, not only to traditional inputs, but to the environmental impact, as well. This paper aims at calculating the eco-efficiency of Polish commercial farms, based on a representative sample of 601 farms participating in the Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). To assess the eco-efficiency of the farms, variables illustrating traditional inputs (land, labor, capital), as well as variables reflecting the environmental pressure of the surveyed farms (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses) were used. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) revealed that, on average, farms could reduce their inputs by almost a quarter without reducing their outputs. Additionally, it was revealed that incorporating externalities of agricultural production into analyses decreases the diversity of the farm population in terms of efficiency measures. According to the analyses, more eco-efficient farms are characterized by larger utilized agricultural area (UAA), higher production value, and higher intensity of chemical inputs per 1 ha, but at the same time by lower amounts of inputs used per production unit. Moreover, more eco-efficient farms achieved higher farm incomes in many terms: total, per 1 ha of UAA, and per 1 EUR of production value.

Risk aversion is an important research area in the field of agricultural economics in the last years. Creating effective and efficient risk management tools in an increasingly volatile economic and natural environment requires proper recognition of farmers’ behavior and attitudes towards risk. In this context, the main aim of the paper was to estimate farmers’ attitudes towards risk and identification of farm’s and farmer’s characteristics in dependency on risk aversion level. The assessment of farmers’ preferences towards risk was based on hypothetical games in a representative sample of 600 Polish farms—participants of Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Based on the interviews with farmers, a relative risk aversion coefficient has been estimated. Results revealed that on average Polish farmers have quite a strong risk aversion. Their attitudes towards risk are strongly linked with their self-assessment regarding their way of making decisions under risk. Some relations between farmers’ risk aversion and perception of selected risk factors could also be observed. The results revealed that the application of specified risk management tools by farmers and their potential reaction to a significant income drop are related to risk aversion level.

The importance of biotechnology for the global economy is growing, including developments in the field of genetically modified organisms (GMO), which have revolutionized the cultivation of several major food crops. Despite the many benefits from introducing genetic modifications to crops, the Polish society shows a strong distrust towards GMO-based food. The negative attitude of the society towards genetically modified (GM) food could be considered irrational. It is not supported by adequate knowledge and is based on fears, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence of threats of GM products towards the environment, health, or human life. Details of these perceptions were revealed within Polish society from surveys of three groups of respondents: consumers, students, farmers. Data from the surveys have been compared with the answers to the same questions by five biotechnology experts from Polish academic institutions. A general observation from the analysis of the survey results and past studies quoted in the literature review is that the level of understanding and acceptance of GMO technologies is still low in Polish society, and, to a large extent, is based on stereotypes rather than on scientific knowledge. They show broad support for the general benefits of GMOs, which does not vary between the three groups of respondents surveyed, but noticeably differs with the experts’ views. GMOs have allies, but also opponents who have their own beliefs shaped largely by unreliable information disseminated through the Internet and social media. Providing more reliable targeted information on GMOs based on scientific evidence can have an important role in changing polarized attitudes towards GM food.

Increasing the share of renewable energy in the final energy consumption is a way to ensure independence from external supplies of fossil fuels, which is a fundamental political and economic challenge for many countries nowadays. One such country is Ukraine, which depended on Russian gas supplies and energy (electricity) from nuclear power plants. Russian gas is not delivered anymore to Ukraine, and Russians have recently taken over some of the nuclear power plants. The changes in the political situation force Ukraine to search for alternative energy sources. In countries with high agricultural production potential, one of the basic options seems to be popularization of modern methods of obtaining energy from biomass (bioenergy), which so far has played a minor role in the country’s energy mix (less than 2% in the case of Ukraine). The analysis carried out on the case of the Kyiv Region indicates that the annual economic potential of biomass in the region is equivalent to 1743 thousand toe (tonnes of oil), and its use allows them to save about 43% of fossil fuel annually.