Abstract
Caring for environmental protection through minimization of the food processing threats might turn out to be not only a complex process but it also demands a lot of expenditures. A survey carried out among small and medium-sized enterprises of the food industry in the Częstochowa region demonstrated that application of the best practices, which are environmentally friendly, is not common. It also showed that three fourth of the respondents do not implement formal environmental policies. The entrepreneurs participating in the survey exhibited a low level of environmental awareness, particularly in the area of involvement in ecological problems at the individual level.