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managing food supply
People have always has to manage food supply and that is why farming took over from hunting and gathering and why farmers and the scientists, planners, merchants, etc., who support them have always tried to find ways of increasing productivity and improving storage of the food that has been produced.
Increased production can lead to problems, however. When farming and food supply are run as a commercial enterprise the laws of supply and demand operate. If supply increases and demand does not increase, the price of the food produced will fall.
However, farmers cannot just change their whole production systems immediately in response to changes in prices. Their businesses are run on a long-term basis and are not as flexible as factory systems. Also, they depend to a large extent on climate and soil conditions in the area and this too makes it difficult to adapt to the market.
At the same time, many governments feel that they cannot afford to let farming suffer too much from wildly fluctuating market prices. Farming and food production is so important that there has to be some planning to protect farmers from fluctuating prices if that will help to guarantee the country's food supply and ensure food security.
As a result of this complex set of forces and the importance of trying to achieve food security, different systems in different parts of the world try to manage food supply by increasing and decreasing food production, sometimes both at the same time.
Increased production can lead to problems, however. When farming and food supply are run as a commercial enterprise the laws of supply and demand operate. If supply increases and demand does not increase, the price of the food produced will fall.
However, farmers cannot just change their whole production systems immediately in response to changes in prices. Their businesses are run on a long-term basis and are not as flexible as factory systems. Also, they depend to a large extent on climate and soil conditions in the area and this too makes it difficult to adapt to the market.
At the same time, many governments feel that they cannot afford to let farming suffer too much from wildly fluctuating market prices. Farming and food production is so important that there has to be some planning to protect farmers from fluctuating prices if that will help to guarantee the country's food supply and ensure food security.
As a result of this complex set of forces and the importance of trying to achieve food security, different systems in different parts of the world try to manage food supply by increasing and decreasing food production, sometimes both at the same time.