This paper is concerned with adjustments to food-shortages at the micro-level, in terms of consumption, employment and demand. It argues that such effects are more serious today than e.g., in the sixties, and is not limited to the direct cultivators alone, affecting employment, income and demand in the non-food and non-agricultural sectors. It also argues that shortages result in a widening and deepening of existing seasonalities, with consumption, prices, demand, employment etc. essentially following this seasonal pattern. Apart from immediate short-run effects, substantial longer-term adjustments may be required. Implications for policy include buffer-stock operations, a rationalised public food distribution programme and development of consumption of the most disadvantaged groups, and minimising the pressure on the government budget and the balance of payments.