1959—1961年的三年间，由于“左”倾错误和自然灾害的影响，全国都出现了严重的粮食供应紧张。北京作为新中国的首都，同样面临着严峻的挑战。为解决粮食供应问题，北京市在中央的指引下，实行了一系列措施，从开源、节流、宣传教育等几个方面入手，最终成功保证了首都的粮食供应，渡过了困难时期。北京之所以能成功应对困难，与我国政治体制的巨大优势密不可分。但这些应对措施也存在着种种问题，没有完全脱离“左”的错误，也没有突破计划经济体制的束缚，因此未能从根本上消除粮食紧张的可能性。事实证明，只有大力发展生产力，建立合理的市场经济体制，才是解决粮食供应问题的必经之路。

During the three years from 1959 to 1961, due to the "left" mistakes and the impact of natural disasters, there was a serious shortage of food supply nationwide. As the capital of New China, Beijing also faced severe challenges. To resolve the problem of food supply, Beijing implemented a series of measures under the guidance of the central government, starting in such several aspects as broadening sources of income, reducing expenditure, and carrying out publicity and education. Finally, Beijing succeeded in ensuring the food supply of the capital and passed through the famine period. The reason why Beijing could achieve success in coping with difficulties was closely related to the great advantages of China's political system. However, there were also various problems in these measures, which failed to completely get rid of the "left" mistakes, nor broke through the bonds of the planned economy system. Therefore, the possibility of food shortage had not been fundamentally eliminated. It turns out that the only way to resolve the problem of food supply is to vigorously develop productivity and establish a reasonable market economy system.