Data Response – 2010 Paper
A. The cause of the increase of demand of allotments was caused the immediate post-war period in
which people looked to growing their own food to reduce the effects of food shortages, and
demand has peaked more recently due to the rising food prices, growing concerns over the
environmental effect of food miles and increased demand for locally-grown organic produce.
B. Calculation
ii. A change in the price of food causes a contraction in demand, due to the negative relationship
between price and demand. As food prices rise, consumers increase their demand for allotments as it
is a way of being more self-sufficient and grow their own organic produce, which would allow them
to save the money that they would have had to spend on commercially grown food. Allotments are a
substitute good for commercial food, and thus when the prices of food rise, demand increases for
allotments.
C. One of the market approaches mentioned is to increase the annual rent, which as shown by Figure
1, increases the price of an allotment. This will contact demand for allotments due to the negative
relationship between price and demand. This contraction in demand will solve the problem of
excess demand as the increase in rent will increase the price of allotments. As food and
allotments are substitute goods, the increase in annual rent of allotments will cause more
consumers to switch to commercial food, thus solving the problem of excess demand.
D.
The two non-market approaches highlighted in the article to tackle the problems of excess demand
include dividing the allotment space into smaller plots and to give beginners smaller plots of land and
creating a waiting list.
The first way in which these non-market solutions may be effective is that it allows for more people
to have access to allotments without increasing the price. The splitting of land is efficient as it allows
more consumers to enter into the market and can successfully help to ease
However, splitting the land and providing beginners with smaller plots of land may not be efficient as
it decreases the overall efficiency of the land. As people turn to allotments due to the increase in food
prices, to split the land may reduce the amount of produce that consumers will be able to produce on
the land.
Food is a neceassry and essential commodity, and
The success and efficiency of the non-market solutions depends on the rate of inflation which is
affecting the food