How are the following economic terms involved with a food crisis?

Question

supply, demand, elasticity of supply and demand, consumer choice, production technology, short run and long run costs, marginal cost, perfect competition market, monopoly,

What would happen to each of the above during a food crisis?

Answer 1

Supply is short, leading to the crisis

Demand remains high, food is a necessity in its most basic form.  It's interesting to think about what all is included when we talk about food, as elaborate or gourmet restaurant meals are not what we think of as part of a crisis

Elasticity of supply (with respect to price) when the price of corn goes high, as it did recently, farmers shift to planting corn instead of wheat.  So the elasticity of supply with respect to price for wheat is relatively high.  It's easy enough, and farmers are willing to, substitute something else in lieu of wheat production if the price falls relative to alternatives.  Wheat hasn't fallen, its just lower than it once was relative to corn.

Elasticity of demand(with respect to price)  Demand for a subsistence level of food is relatively inelastic.  People need enough food to live in physical comfort.  After that they will certainly stop consuming excess food if the price gets too high, but they will pay almost any price for enough food to live.

Consumer choice.  Not sure what we might say here.   People make choices among substitutes.  If meat gets too expensive, people eat more vegatables and starches.

Technology.  A food crisis drives up the cost of food, which spurs additional investment in production technology since the expected returns are higher.

Short run costs will go up, since less efficient production methods are justified if they increase production.  When price shifts up due to scarcity, you can justify higher costs to produce whatever the market will accept

Long run costs could go up, due to behaviors such as overtaxing productive land that might have lasted longer if more conservation oriented methods were employed.   By using inefficient production methods to eek out additional units of food, we might for instance expose the soil to more wind or water erosion

Marginal cost.   When food is scarce, people will use less efficient methods to get the last units of food out to market, which will boost marginal cost

Perfect competition.  When demand exceeds supply, you move out of equillibrium.  There is less competative pressure in the short run, since everything you can make will be consumed.

Monopoly.  To the extent that a crisis lifts costs, and all available product can be sold, it seems like its not as fertile (pun intended) a market to prompt monopolistic acquisitions.  If you happen to own land not affected by a drought for instance, you would be less likely to sell it, since its pretty easy to make money on the land during a food crisis.  On the other hand, rising prices make the land more appealing to larger operators who might make you a pretty good offer for your land or equipment or whatever they need.  What the world needs most is a one armed economist?

These are just some ideas off the top of my head.  Compare and contrast to other answers before you run with them.

Good luck

Answer 2

i guess, supply is not sufficient that's why prices tend to get higher..i can't recall the others...sorry..

Answer 3

Food Crisis:

Supply is limited, scarce, and or insufficient to satisfy demand.

Demand is greater than available resources or supply.

Elasticity of supply and demand varies with availability.