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Arkadiusz Niedziolka, Marcin Lis
University of Agriculture in Cracow, Poland
ORGANIC FOOD AS THE FACTOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRITOURISM IN POLAND
Abstract: In the article the authors presented a new form of rural tourism -ecoagritourism. This kind of agritourism is connected with the process of organic cultivation and food production by means of organic methods. The authors presented the amount of such farms in Poland and organization ECEAT - European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism which associate ecoagritourism farms. Moreover, units, which are responsible for certification such farms were presented, too.
Key words: organic food, agritourism, ecoagritourism, organic agriculture.
Introduction
Organic farming is a form of agriculture that excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. As far as possible, organic farmers rely on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests. Organic farming is often contrasted with conventional chemical farming. Organic agriculture can be considered a subset of sustainable agriculture, the difference being that organic implies certification in accordance with legal standards. Organic methods are studied in the field of agroecology. Organic food connected with agritourism forms a new form of tourism called: ecoagritourism. In this case food is produced only in an organic way. Nowadays there are over 150 such farms functioning in Poland.
Task, the aim of the article
The aim of the article is the presence the role of organic food and organic agriculture in the development of agritourism in Poland. Such kind of rural tourism, in which food is being produced by means of eco-friendly ways is called ecoagritourism. Ecoagritourism farms are run by farmers - so it's a kind of agritourism farm. Moreover only organic food, produced in this farm is offered to tourists.
Organic agriculture in Poland
The first inspection of organic farms in Poland was carried out in 1990 on the basis of "Organic Agriculture criteria of EKOLAND Association", elaborated according to the guidelines of International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). As a result of the inspection carried out by Control Committee inspectors, on the basis of their reports, the Certification Committee issued 29 certificates for organic farms . Since that time we have observed a continuous
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development of organic Agriculture, with various growth rate in different periods, depending on the development of know-how, market conditions and subsidies until 2005, when 7 182 Polish farms with the total Utilised Agriculture area of 159 709 ha were subject to control, including 1683 with the certificate and 99 certificated processing plants. Estimated number of organic farm in 2006 is about 9 500 with a total area of over 200 000 ha. There are expectations that the number of organic farms will grow in 2007 to 12 000 [www.bioekspert.waw.pl]. Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.^ Livestock are reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones. In most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified. Organic food production is legally regulated. Currently, the United States, the European Union, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain organic certification in order to market food as organic. Historically, organic farms have been relatively small family-run farms — which is why organic food was once only available in small stores or farmers' markets. However, since the early 1990s organic food has had growth rates of around 20% a year, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations. As of April 2008, organic food accounts for 1-2% of food sales worldwide. Future growth is expected to range from 10-50% annually depending on the country.
In Poland the are some bodies which certify organic farms. In Table 1 there are their names and number of controlled farms and processing farms.
Table 1
Number of controlled organic farms (including the farms in conversion) in 2004
Certified by Number of controlled farms Number of processing plants Hectares
EKOGWARANCJA PTRE 1521 27 32'576.3
AGROBIOTEST 1095 20 23'493.3
BIOEKSPERT 504 3 11'386.8
COBICO 319 3'964.2
PCBC 205 4 8'685.9
PNG 116 1 2'623.7
Total 3'760 55 82''730.2
Source: Main Inspectorate of Market Quality of Agriuculture Products and
Foodstuffs 2005, httt://www.ijhar-s.gov.pl
EKOGWARANCJA PTRE is the largest polish Certifying Body. It is the body accredited by the Polish Centre for Accreditation - we operate in accordance with requirements specified in the regulation PN - EN 45011. EKOGWARANCJA PTRE also is empowered by The Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
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Development to conduct controls, issue and void certificates in the field of organic agriculture. Since April 1, 1993 it has been controlling and certifying organic farming [http: // ekogwarancj a. pl/index. php?i d=4].
After Poland's EU accession major changes in the organic agriculture are:
• implementation of control system compliant with Council Regulation (EC) No 2092/91;
• certification system approved by the European Commission, and Polish certificates approved by the recipients of Polish products in 25 EU member states;
• possibility to indicate organic products with the "Organic Agriculture" logo subject to Regulation (EC) 746 of 22 April 2004;
• subsidies to the areas of organic cultivation in the scope of agri-environmental programmes doubled in relation to subsidies from the Polish budget in the last year;
• considerably greater workload for farmers, related to keeping records, not only due to duty resulting from regulation on organic agriculture, but also from the regulation 1257/99 on supporting rural development;
• the most serious problem - Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA), which is a payment agency, has only recently been accredited and farmers received the acreage subsidies for 2004 only in February 2005.
Organic food in agritourism farms - ecoagritourim development
The term "ecoagritourism" has been existed in literature for some years. This kind of agritourism denotes stay at farmers who cultivate soil and produce food by means of organic methods (in farms which possess certificate or being in the course of conversion [Zariba 2006]. In recent years a new kind of holiday, based on ecological tourism on organic farms, was pioneered in Poland. This new type of holiday or vacation is associated with the increasing awareness of the importance of the traditional rural environment as a vital natural and cultural resource and treasure that can be both protected and enjoyed, having positive impact on our physical and psychological health. Poland is ideal for such holidays, as it has a variety of regions with beautiful landscapes, rich, bio-diverse environments, and small-scale organic and traditional farms that are ideal vacation spots. One of the precursor of ecotourism is ECEAT-Poland, which members are mainly small family farmers. Why was ECEAT-Poland created? It should be mentioned here words of one of ECEAT net creator, Peter Bishop: "You should much more appreciate what you have and sell your everydayness of your countryside...When I come back to Poland again I would not buy hot-dogs, hamburgers but something yours- home made wholemeal bread, cottage cheese etc. For us -people from Western Europe- staying in Poland it's not only like coming back to out childhood, but it's also the most modern style of life in harmony with nature, which is only for elite".
The most famous organization, which associates such farms is just ECEAT -European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism. ECEAT is the leading
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European organisation in the field of small-scale sustainable tourism with a special attention to rural areas and organic farming. Organic farming is a form of agriculture that excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. As far as possible, organic farmers rely on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests. Organic farming is often contrasted with conventional chemical farming. Organic agriculture can be considered a subset of sustainable agriculture, the difference being that organic implies certification in accordance with legal standards. Organic methods are studied in the field of agroecology.
ECEAT has got a department in Poland. ECEAT-Poland, the European Centre for Ecological Agriculture and Tourism in Poland, supports small-scale ecological to organic and traditional farms. In this way we help preserve precious cultural and natural landscapes and the traditional way of life of rural people, while supporting the growth of organic farming and nature protection. ECEAT-Poland is non-profit, charitable and educational association. We co-operate with professional tourist agencies that include ECEAT-Poland accommodations in their programmes. Our members are mainly organic farmers who welcome tourists on their farms [http://www.poland.eceat.org/abouteceat.htm].
The main reason for the creation of ECEAT-Poland was to help small Polish farms (which in Poland are led mainly by women) using tourism as a tool, with a strong emphasis on organic farming and ecological tourism. It has benefits for both farmers and visitors, and has a very positive impact for saving the environment. ECEAT-Poland is the only NGO in Poland which connects the three areas of agriculture, tourism and ecology. It also has educational and economic benefits for the farmers as well as visitors. ECEAT-Poland's work to spread the idea of ecological cooperation among farmers and consumers is also unique among Polish NGO's and has already economically benefitted many women farmers in Poland.
The pilot Eco-Agro-Tourism project (EAT) was started in January 1993 and at that time a national coordination team was formed in Poland. This core team was later transformed into the independent association nongovernmental, non-profit association ECEAT-Poland. The leader of the team, Jadwiga Wietrzna - Lopata, was one of the first initiators of the EAT project. She was very active in promoting the EAT project in Poland at many national and local meetings. Publicity was also given to the EAT project on radio and TV through her efforts. There were also meetings with other ecological NGO's as well as with governmental authorities in order to work out an organisational and legal framework for the activities. During 1994 ECEAT-Poland was successful in its coordinated struggle for better treatment for its farmers, regarding tax laws, which produced a favourable change in these laws for the farmers.
In 1995-1996 ECEAT-Poland ran 10 successful student camps on ecological farms. In 1996 ECEAT-Poland co-ran a project for developing ecological awareness for teachers (5 trainings) on ecological farms. From 1996 until the present it has been running Our Common Campaign for Ecological Farmers in Poland which led to the
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co-creation of the Regional Union for Organic Agriculture and the National Coalition of Organic Agriculture in 1998.
ECEAT-Poland has been represented at several big tourist fairs in Poland, presented lectures, videos and slide shows in several important public programmes (Jelenia Gora Ecological Days, Neo-Humanistic Ecological Festival, Wiswa Now, Earth Day, Eco-Forum, Kolumna National Ecologists Meeting, International Black Triangle Seminar, International Green Backbone of Europe Conference) and in meetings organise by the ministry of environment, agriculture and integration with the European Union, to propose alternative solutions in the fields of agriculture and tourism. In 2001 ECEAT-Poland with the project 'Ecotourism on organic farms -Holiday on an organic farm' was winner of the prize "Tourism for Tomorrow 2001" sponsored by British Airways and the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The prize "Tourism for tomorrow" has given since 1998 year in six categories for tourism responsible for environment and is the most renowned in this domain. ECEAT-Poland was selected from among 150 organisations from 48 countries and won the prize in the category "The best organisation". ECEAT-
Poland is non-profit, charitable and educational association. It co-operates with professional tourist agencies that include ECEAT-Poland accommodations in their programmes. Its members are mainly organic farmers -about 100 members- who welcome tourists on their farms [http://www.poland.eceat.org/members.htm].
With this ECEAT-Poland, the European Centre for Ecological Agriculture and Tourism in Poland, web-site to point out some of the best places. A tourist can spend his holidays on one or more farms where farming is done on a small scale and in an environmentally friendly way or perhaps he or she will stay in small bed & breakfasts, often in people's own homes, in cottages or on small campgrounds. Most of farms' accommodations are in rural areas, where few other tourists come.
Spending vacation at ECEAT-Poland farms and accommodations is also an excellent way to get in touch with different people and a different way of life. ECEAT-Poland (European Centre for Ecological Agriculture and Tourism, Poland) is non-govermental organisation, which has started promotion of tourism to organic farms. The principal goal of ECEAT-Poland association is to introduce rural ecotourism to stimulate ecological agriculture. ECEAT-Poland was created in the Netherlands in 1993, but in December in 1993 has become independent organization. Among countries which co-operate with ECEAT-International there are: Hungry, Czech, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Latvia, Romania, Finland.
That's why the idea of combining the tourism and organic farming cropped out. Since the beginning ECEAT-Poland is the international organisation, organic holidays is Poland have become popular with foreigners. For visitors from Western Europe: the Netherlands, England, Belgium it is like a return to their long lost childhood - picturesque landscapes, meadows and forests.
The pilot Eco-Agro-Tourism project (EAT) started in January 1993 and at that time a national coordination team was formed in Poland. The project joined 16 farms from southern Poland. From the first group, till now in the ECEAT-
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Poland are farms from Bukowka and Popowice. In 1994 the project was renamed into Ecological Tourism to Ecological Farms- TEGE. Today, in the TEGE project participate about hundred farmers all over the country and there is growing interest among others. The first ECEAT-Poland seat was in Milkow- in Karkonosze Mountains, in 1998 was moved to Stryszow - in the neighbourhood of Cracow, and in 2003 has come back to south-west part of Poland to Bukowka. During ten years, ECEAT-Poland was leader and co-operate in many projects, among them are:
- Common Campaign for Organic Agriculture,
- Ecological Education on eco-farms - new forms of co-operation village-city,
- Ecotourism on farms - the chance of development for communities,
- Development of ecological awareness - co-operation,
- Promotion of ecotourism in Karkonosze/Krkonose Reserve - co-operation,
- The strengthening of the social-economic position of woman farmers in Poland,
- ECEAT accommodation and Nature Protection,
- Eco-education - chance for local development.
Since 1990 the market for organic products has grown at a rapid pace, averaging 20-25 percent per year, and this has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 306,000 square kilometres (30.6 million hectares) worldwide are now farmed organically. In addition, as of 2005 organic wild products are farmed on approximately 62 million hectares.
The growing public demand for organic food, produced in the most natural environment, is causing a shift from large-scale conventional intensive farming into small-scale semi-extensive farming. This type of farming is being implemented frequently in fast growing agri-tourism farms, which attract customers with a wide range of farm animals living in the environmentally friendly conditions as well as their high quality organic products. At
present there's a lack of precise data about number of ecoagritourism farms in Poland. Central Statistical Office doesn't conduct reporting on the subject of such farms. Agricultural Advisory Centres doesn't do it, either.
The Agricultural Advisory Centre in Brwinow made efforts to achieve to form all - Poland base of ecoagritourism farms. This base is being formed free for farmers and is provided on the Internets' side: www.eko.radom.com.pl. Nowadays the base consists of 158 ecoagritourism farms (Table 2).
Most of farms (61%) which promote in Internet is located on mountain areas, namely in voivodeship:: swi^tokrzyskie, malopolskie, dolnosl^skie, podkarpackie and sl^skie. It is worth mentioning that the number of ecoagritourism farms givet at the side of Agricultural Advisory Centre doesn't express the size of this phenomenon.
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Table 2.
Number of ecoagritourism farms in individual voivodeship in Poland in 2007
Voivodeship Number of ecoagritourism farms
dolnosl^skie 25
kujawsko - pomorskie 3
lubelskie 3
lubuskie 2
lodzkie 0
malopolskie 29
mazowieckie 6
opolskie 8
podkarpackie 4
podlaskie 11
pomorskie 0
sl^skie 5
swi^tokrzyskie 33
warminsko - mazurskie 18
wielkopolskie 1
zachodniopomorskie 10
Saurce: on the base of: http://www.eko.radom.com.pl/bga/index.php
Conclusions
Presently the development of ecoagritourism in Poland is in initial phase. There are only 158 such farms which exist at the moment. It's very important to promote this form of agritourism in different ways: internet, brochures, magazines and at fairs where both agritourism and organic food are promoted.
There's a need to enlarge the number of ecoagritourism farms. It can be done by good advisory system, by different courses conducted by advisers. Besides, there is a financial support from the EU both to organic agriculture and to agritourism farms with organic food - that is ecoagritourism.
Literature
Jasinska A., Ciepiela G. A., Ekoagroturystyka jako kierunek rozwoju turystyki zrownowazonej [w:] Rozwoj turystyki na obszarach wiejskich. Wydawnictwo Politechniki Bialostockiej, Bialystok 2007, s.
Zariba D., Ekoturystyka, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2006, s. 52.
Internet addresses http://www.poland.eceat.org/abouteceat.htm http://www.poland.eceat.org/members.htm] http://ekogwarancja.pl/index.php?id=4 http://www.eko.radom.com.pl/bga/index.php
Cmammx nadiumna do peda^ii 14.04.2008
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