The aim of the article is to present the state of and reasons for the development of organic farming in Poland in the years 2003–2014 in selected countries. It shows the factors conducive to the development of organic production, the conditions for the certification of products, development of organic production in the world and the structure and prospects of development of the Polish farming.

The aim of the paper was to present the level of disparities and economic poverty in rural areas of Poland in the period 2010-2016. The adopted research assumption was that a high level of income inequality led to a high level of relative poverty. The research was based on the analysis and synthesis of literature and secondary statistical data from the Central Statistical Office. In the theoretical part, the author presented an overview of inequality and poverty definitions. The research part used descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The obtained results demonstrate that there is a strong positive correlation between income inequality measured using the Gini index and relative poverty in rural areas. No correlation between variables for the professional group of farmers was observed. It can be thus assumed that an increase in income inequality in rural areas leads to an increase in relative poverty, however this correlation does not apply to households, where the main source of income is agriculture.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the food sector in Poland during 2008-2012, compared to selected European Union Member States, and to define the factors affecting growth of the sector under consideration. The structure of sold production of the Polish food industry and the levels of food production in Europe are presented in the paper. Discussion covers quantitative fluctuations in the number of businesses and production value of food products, as well as employment and salaries in the food sector. Finally, growth perspectives are determined for the studied sector.

The aim of this paper is to present the consumers cooperatives in Poland in the years 2006–2014 on the example of the selected cooperative being a member of the National Supervision Union of Spolem Consumer Cooperatives. To characterise the chosen cooperative, the number and area size of their business establishments were presented, as well as the number of employees and their wages. It was followed by the financial results of the business activity, the balance sheet and its components as well as the strengths leading to further development. Taking into account economic and financial performance of the cooperative, it was developing in the analyzed period.

The article addresses issues concerning the level of income inequalities in the countries of the European Union in 2010 and 2018. Subject literature and secondary Eurostat data were used in order to achieve the aim of the study. The obtained results confirmed the presence of a large variability in the level of income inequalities between countries of the European Union. Bulgaria and Lithuania were the countries characterized by the biggest income inequalities. The smallest income disproportions, independent of the interference of the state, occurred in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. In addition, in 2018, a relatively large drop in inequality in Poland, as well as an increase in inequality in Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands was observed. The study conducted allows to confirm the hypothesis assumed at the beginning, which states that in countries that are part of the European Community, the governments effectively contribute to the reduction in income inequalities by means of taxes and social remittances. However, a decrease in so-called the Gini gap in most European Union countries means that the effectiveness of redistribution has been decreasing.