Can anyone explain the reasoning/logic here?

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As a result of consumers' increased awareness of the health risks associated with heavy consumption of red meat, the meat of the ostrich has become increasingly popular as a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative to beef. Accordingly, the number of ostrich farms in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 1980, flooding markets with ostrich products. However, the price-per-pound of ostrich meat, adjusted for inflation, has not decreased at all over the past several years.

Which of the following, if true, would best explain the steady price-per-pound of ostrich meat?

a) The demand for ostrich products has outpaced the supply.
b) Ostriches are especially difficult to breed in captivity.
c) Other types of meat, such as pork and poultry, have decreased in price over the past several years.
d) Purveyors of beef have not attempted to counter beef's poor public image.
e) The number of supermarkets that carry ostrich meat has increased steadily since 1980.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by deloitte247 » Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:29 am
Option A - CORRECT.
According to the demand and supply theory, ''the higher the demand, the lower the supply''. when there is a high demand in products such as ostrich meat, literally there would be a low rate of supply because ostrich are not easy to breed and the available supply cannot meet up with the recent high demand of the meat, due to the health information gathered about it. This recent increase in demand of ostrich over the years has quadruped the investors of ostrich however, this meat is still the most expensive meat compared to the regular red meat.

Option B - INCORRECT.
The Ostriches may be difficult to breed in captivity, but that is not a good reason for the price inflation.

Option C - INCORRECT.
Other types of meat, such as pork and poultry, have decreased in price over the past several years due to the high health risk, however, this has caused a high demand of the ostrich meat.

Option D - INCORRECT.
Purveyors of beef have not attempted to counter beef's poor public image, because they are also aware of the health risk it gives to consumers.

Option E - INCORRECT.
The number of supermarkets that carry ostrich meat has increased steadily since 1980, however, this formation is meant to have caused a reduction in price of the rare meat due to market competition but rather the price keeps increasing, because there is a low supply compared to the high demand of the ostrich meat in the market.