It's multifactorial. Excellent farmland near cities is turned into housing because that pays better than farming. The best agriculturally place to grow tomato

It's multifactorial. Excellent farmland near cities is turned into housing because that pays better than farming. The best agriculturally place to grow tomatoes might be Manhattan, but we're not going to knock down the borough to grow tomatoes there. Now, one may argue that the price includes all of these factors, although that would make the appeal to economics tautological. Why didn't economics prevent the Dust Bowl? What does economics say about dealing with a new wave of Okies?