On October 9, 2024, a meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee took place. The subject of the meeting was information on „The threat to Polish farms resulting from court rulings unfavorable to farmers.” During the meeting, the case of a pig farmer near Łódź, who has to pay over 100,000 PLN due to odor nuisances, was discussed.

Green REV Institute: „We are calling for a comprehensive approach to the issue of rural development vs. animal production. This is not about a single farm or a few hundred protests from Polish residents. This is about redesigning the food system, subsidy system, and the protection of human rights. This is a critical issue because it addresses the reality that we cannot produce food to the detriment of people, health, and the environment. Decision-makers have all the data on the table – data on the continuous decline in the number of farms, data on exports instead of building the country’s food security, data from the Supreme Audit Office on antibiotic resistance, and food safety. The role of decision-makers is not to polarize society by taking sides. Their role is to take responsibility for a dysfunctional food system and confront the consequences. Yes – this situation is a consequence of a lack of action toward a sustainable food system. As early as June 2022, the Ministry of Health, following a meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, presented research findings from the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, indicating that:

‘Animal farming undoubtedly affects the health of both those working on industrial farms and those living nearby. In addition to chemical and physical threats, harmful biological factors also pose a danger. In rural environments, sources of harmful biological factors (HBF) include infected humans and animals, sewage, waste, animal and plant products, dust, human and animal excretions, clinical material, soil, water, and aerosols.’

We highlight this document because over two years have passed, and the lack of legal and systemic solutions has caused the problem of public health risks to only grow. It is necessary to start a debate on changes to the Common Agricultural Policy. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has many tools to protect the rights of rural residents and Polish agriculture.

Finally, we would like to mention that during the 2019-2024 term of the European Parliament, a resolution project on the health and lives of people living near farms was submitted by MEP Sylwia Spurek, supported by non-governmental organizations and experts.

The project proposed:

• Updating EU legislation on the distance between farms and human habitation and activities, as well as the concentration of farms;
• Strengthening the control of the implementation and application of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and Directive 91/676/EEC on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources in Member States;
• Promptly proposing by the European Commission an amendment to Directive 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, to set emission reduction targets, including for ammonia produced by farms, necessary to guarantee the right to health, a clean environment, and family life.

It is worth considering how we can address these issues at the national level, within Polish law, despite the lack of initiated changes in EU law.”

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