Geneza i pojęcie żywności lokalnej w powiązaniu z ideą zrównoważonejkonsumpcji

This paper reviews the conceptual apparatus and the genesis of local food, on the basis of definitions and with respect to legal conditions, as well as the popular ways of interpretation of local food and scientific research performed by different centers and institutions – both domestic and foreign. On the basis of that, the paper presents the author’s own proposition concerning the abovementioned issue. The aim of the paper is to present the genesis and the definition of local food in the perspective of sustainable consumption. While conducting the research, the scientific literature concerning the subject was reviewed, and the findings were documented with available statistical and market information. The research showed that public institutions see the potential of local food and hope that it can drive the development of rural areas in the European Union. Local food is an alternative approach to the way in which food consumption can be turned into a sustainable one. Informed and responsible consumers, who are aware of their own limitations and value tradition, provide some new quality to the society (as they constitute a specific form of social capital), what translates into bigger local food production possibilities and is the basis for the further development of sustainable consumption.