Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear Authors!

It is an interesting and actual topic because, as the authors mention, the organic farming sector as one of the elements of the European Green Deal should be strengthen and „the European Commission sets the goal of converting as much as 25% of agricultural land to organic farming by 2030”.

The article draws attention to overproduction and overconsumption, the growing problems of the conventional farming and support system, the long-term unsustainability, and the inequalities in food production and consumption.

I found only few mistakes.

In some cases the name of the author/authors is/are missing.

In Row 137 „ In comparison, according to [22], the global amount of this ratio was 34% for the base year from 2005 to 2009.”

In Row 219 „Feature values ? for 2030 were adjusted for population based on population forecasts prepared by [32].”

Row 224-226 „Also taking into account the important issue of food losses and food waste, and 226 using information provided by [22, 33], we expect losses to correspond to 30-40% total food supply (TFS), and we allowed for such losses in our analyses.”

The following statement is not clear, more explanation is needed: „However, available data [13] suggests that in 2018 an average of only EURO 7 was spent in Poland on the best quality food - organic food.”

It is mentioned in row 282-284 that „At the same time we assume an increased consumption of turkey, duck, goose, rabbit and sheep meat, and honey (also 283 by 25%, 50% and 75%).” It is unclear why the consumption pattern will change in the future, because this consumption structure, as the authors also mentioned before, is traditional.

The weak point of the calculations is to achieve a structural change in animal protein consumption in a short time. Which also presupposes a significant and radical change in production.

In row 370-372„However, despite the potentially limited consumption of wheat flour and sugar, it is the reduction in the supply of selected animal products that may actually trigger changes in the structure of food consumption”.

How can the traditional consuming pattern, structure be changed, influenced? How much time does it take?

I suggest expanding the bibliography, using more literature sources, as the article is descriptive and based on secondary data processing.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

 

Thank you for revision of our paper.

Please Find attached file with our response

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Detailed analysis of agricultural products consumption can provide interesting and useful data for the industry and the science, as well. Manuscript sustainability-1282821 focuses on the change of consumer awareness and sustainable consumption in Poland based on the data of FAOSTAT and Poland’s Central Statistical Office. Therefore the topic of manuscript can be considered as interesting for the readers. The manuscript is generally well structured. Introduction section and section 2 summarized well and clear the background and the relevancy of the study, and the research motivations. Methods are adequate to the hypothesis and main aims of the research. Materials and methods are described clearly. Results are presented well in tables and figures. Manuscript contains interesting and valuable results that are discussed in details, with relevant references. In my opinion, the manuscript can be recommendable for publishing after minor revision.

Comments:

I suggest the authors to reformat table 1 and table 2 (mainly headings) to improve the visibility.

Please make more concrete the figure caption for figure 1.

Author Response

Respect Reviewer,

 

Thank you for revision of our paper.

Please find attached file with our response.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Esteemed Authors,

It has been a great honor, as well as a pleasantly challenging activity, to review the article entitled ”Proposed changes in Polish agricultural products consumption structure for 2030 based on data from 2008-2018.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), by the effect of demographic growth and changes in diets and incomes, the demand for food is likely to grow by 70% until 2050. The current global market outlook can be affected by considerable uncertainties determined by economic, political, climate, and biological factors (e.g., new diseases of crops and animal diseases). Food chain disruptions during the pandemic and other negative phenomena - extreme weather phenomena, cyber-attacks, the evolution of animal diseases with a great difusibility, etc. - emphasized the importance of rapid intervention measures in such cases.

The recent reforms of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and other EU policies, as well as international and bilateral trade negotiations, take into account the objective of global food security. The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission is involved in the impact assessment of policies regarding food security. Also, the potential trade agreements through economic modeling, and the global CGE (Computable General Equilibrium) models assessing the economy-wide impacts of the trade policy changes. All these changes are affecting all sectors of the partners. Besides, the global partial equilibrium models simulate the consequences incurred by the agricultural areas of the partners.

Agricultural and rural informatization is the basis for the modernization of agriculture; at present, there are many different ways of construction and models in agricultural information systems. At the level of the European Union (EU), the European Commission calls on Member states to take advantage of the potential of new technologies and digitization in agriculture, to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector, while simplifying the daily work of farmers. This will be necessary to achieve the objectives set by the current and future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Following the declaration for “a smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural areas” signed by most Member States in April month this year, the Commission met with Member States on 15 May 2019 to present and discuss new technologies and digitization in agriculture highlighting the advantages and opportunities it offers for the sector. Through the CAP, the Commission aims to facilitate its development at national and regional level. Innovation and the use of new technologies provide win-win solutions in agriculture. This means combining benefits for the environment and climate while increasing efficiency and competitiveness. However, the uptake of new technologies remains far below expectations and varies from one country to another. This gap needs to be addressed to ensure that everyone, including the small and medium-sized farmers, can access technology and benefit from it.

Estimating food consumption in the medium and long term is an element of great interest from an economic and social perspective. The predictability of the estimate is essential for the adoption and implementation of public policies aimed at ensuring food security and the sustainable and harmonious development of the agriculture and agri-food chain.

Theory-wise, the paper is likely to elicit specialists' interest in areas such as consumer behavior, conventional food consumption, sociology, sustainable development of agriculture, agricultural productivity, public policies, and public health. The paper presents essential practical applicability primarily related to the sustainable development of agriculture, consumer education, nutrition, public health, and social awareness of farmers' management in crop production. Moreover, the obtained results are also relevant to the production sector, particularly the industry of certain agri-food products in developing countries.

The paper is well structured and possesses an appreciable novelty character. The major components of the article – Introduction; Theoretical background – chosen aspects of food production, structure and quantity of consumed food products in Poland; Materials and Methods; Results and Discussion and Conclusions - are organized judiciously and directly linked to one another.

The documentation is adequate, and the provided scientific results are precise. The goal of the conducted research is well specified and delineated. The working protocol is appropriate, and the used analysis methods are coherent with the proposed objectives.

The bibliography of the paper is generous. What is even more relevant for the quality of the article, all the authors in the bibliographic reference list are quoted in the text of the material.

The article is very well documented, and most bibliographic references are recent and very recent.

I would advise the authors to be more careful concerning the bibliography: it is preferred that the cited authors be mentioned in alphabetical order, and references without specified authors be mentioned at the end of the list of references, in chronological order. I also recommend using a single system not only in citations but also when it comes to journals. I refer here mainly to mentioning the following elements for each article consulted: journal, volume, issue, and pages (the DOI may also be noted, should the author, so desire, but the essential descriptive elements are the previously mentioned ones).

Also, to avoid confusion, it is recommended to accurately mention the article's descriptive elements - for example - the additional mention of the article number, where the situation requires it.

For example - page 16, lines 500-502, number 22 in the bibliographic references list – Schader, C., Muller, A., El-Hage Scialabba, N., Hecht, J., Isensee, A., Erb, K.-H., Smith, P., Makkar, H.P.S., Klocke, P., Leiber, F., Schwegler, P., Stolze, M., Niggli, U. Impacts of feeding less food-competing feedstuffs to livestock on global food system sustainability. Journal of the Royal Society Interface (or ISO Abbreviation – J. R. Soc. Interface), 2015, 12, 113, 1-12; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0891.

Another example - page 17, lines 556-558, number 47 in the bibliographic references list – Muller, A., Schader, C., El-Hage Scialabba, N., Brüggemann, J., Isensee, A., Erb, K.-H., Smith, P., Klocke, P., Leiber, F., Stolze, M., Niggli, U. Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture. Nature Communications (or ISO Abbreviation – Nat. Commun.), 2017, 8, Article number: 1290; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01410-w.

Moreover, I suggest the authors consult and include the following works in the bibliographic references list:

Bondoc, I. European Regulation in the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Area, a Component of the European Policies on the Safety of Food Products and the Protection of Consumer Interests: A 2007 Retrospective. Part One: the Role of European Institutions in Laying Down and Passing Laws Specific to the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Area. Universul Juridic, Supliment, 2016, pp. 12-15 (Available online: http://revista.universuljuridic.ro/supliment/european-regulation-veterinary-sanitary-food-safety-area-component-european-policies-safety-food-products-protection-consumer-interests-2007-retrospective/).

Bondoc, I. European Regulation in the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Area, a Component of the European Policies on the Safety of Food Products and the Protection of Consumer Interests: A 2007 Retrospective. Part Two: Regulations. Universul Juridic, Supliment, 2016, pp. 16-19 (Available online: http://revista.universuljuridic.ro/supliment/european-regulation-veterinary-sanitary-food-safety-area-component-european-policies-safety-food-products-protection-consumer-interests-2007-retrospective-2/).

Bondoc, I. European Regulation in the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Area, a Component of the European Policies on the Safety of Food Products and the Protection of Consumer Interests: A 2007 Retrospective. Part Three: Directives. Universul Juridic, Supliment, 2016, pp. 20-23 (Available online: http://revista.universuljuridic.ro/supliment/european-regulation-veterinary-sanitary-food-safety-area-component-european-policies-safety-food-products-protection-consumer-interests-2007-retrospective-part/).

Bondoc, I. European Regulation in the Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Area, a Component of the European Policies on the Safety of Food Products and the Protection of Consumer Interests: A 2007 Retrospective. Part Four: Decisions. Universul Juridic, Supliment, 2016, pp. 24-27 (Available online: http://revista.universuljuridic.ro/supliment/european-regulation-veterinary-sanitary-food-safety-area-component-european-policies-safety-food-products-protection-consumer-interests-2007-retrospective-part-2/).

All these papers approach food safety legislation enforced within the European Union, which usually constitutes a blueprint for the law in third countries. The four documents outline the European legislative environment, starting with 2007, the year of the penultimate geo-political enlargement of the European Union. I want to add that all four recommended papers have been indexed in CAB International and HeinOnline, the most extensive worldwide database for documents in the legal field.

The four articles represent a systematic database regarding all the normative acts issued and applicable at the European Union level in 2007 in food safety, nutrition (including additives and food supplements), and public health.

The work also benefits from adequate iconographic support, materialized by four tables and four figures. Both the tables and the figures present and synthetically illustrate the essential data of the work.

The authors should pay more attention to using certain abbreviations to avoid confusion; basically, all abbreviations are to be used in the text-only after at least one mention made in extenso.

The obtained results are interpreted correctly, and their practical value is visible.

The graphical representation of the results is adequate; as for the grammar of the paper, the text is very well written, with only two parts that would require some minor changes:

Page 5, line 164 – replace “suggests that in” with “suggest that in”;

Page 15, line 426 – replace “analyses proves” with “analyses prove”.

Minor corrections and clarifications notwithstanding, the authors’ work and obtained results are highly commendable. They bring significant added value to the paper and may constitute a launching pad for further valuable studies.

Best Regards,

Reviewer

Author Response

Respect Reviewer,

 

Thank you for revision of our paper.

Please find attached file with our response.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

This is an interesting study and the authors have collected datasets from FAO and Polish governmental sites. The paper is generally well written, structured and reads well. However, I have only one minor comment that you need to include  a paragraph on structure of the paper in the Introduction section.

Author Response

Respect Reviewer,

 

Thank you for revision of our paper.

Please find attached file with our response.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf