The main objective of the study is an analysis of the development and chances of achieving long-term goals of agriculture, food industry and rural areas in Poland based on the CAP instruments. The authors present the issues of public policy role, market failures and asymmetries in access to market information, the analyses of global factors affecting the functioning of the food economy, the analyses of the current situation in agriculture and food industry, the characteristics of public assistance programmes for the agri-food markets, an analysis of the land factor and the role of this factor in shaping the development of agriculture and non-agricultural activities in rural areas and a summary of considerations regarding the above-mentioned areas.