You Can’t Eat Houses: The Quiet Crisis Behind Our Meals
Every piece of food on your plate has a story—and it begins long before the supermarket.
It starts in the soil. In weathered hands. In small regional communities that most of us may never visit but rely on every single day. And right now, those stories are getting harder to write.
As housing developments spread and export pathways are shut down, we’re quietly dismantling the systems that feed us. Not just in a political sense, but in a deeply personal one—because when land disappears, and the people who farm it are pushed to their limits, we all feel the impact.
In the latest episode of Suzi Says, I delivered a powerful, no-holding-back reminder about the invisible drought we’re facing—not just in the soil, but in our society’s support, understanding, and respect for Australian farmers.
What happens when farmland is treated like a blank canvas?
In many regions, productive land—the kind that grows our wheat, raises our sheep, and feeds entire countries—is being reclassified and rezoned. It’s called “progress” on paper. But if you dig a little deeper, it’s actually short-term thinking at the expense of long-term food security.
From the South Australian government’s plan to rezone prime agricultural land to the federal push to phase out live sheep exports, we’re making decisions that chip away at the very foundations of our food supply—without fully grasping the consequences.
Did you know that just 1% of rezoned farmland in SA could cost us over 57 million loaves of bread every year? That’s enough for 31 loaves per South Australian.
It’s not just a planning issue—it’s a food security crisis in slow motion.
And it’s not only about economics either. These decisions, made in city offices far from the paddocks, have real impacts on the people living on and working that land. The mental toll is heavy, and it's getting worse.
We can’t eat concrete.
We can’t plant crops on rooftops.
And we certainly can’t rebuild agricultural ecosystems overnight once they’re gone.
There’s a delicate balance between growing cities and sustaining the people who nourish them. When that balance tips, it’s not just about economic loss—it’s about losing resilience, choice, and the ability to bounce back when supply chains are hit, as we’ve seen time and again in recent years.
The drought you can’t see
Not every drought is made of dry skies and cracked earth. Some are invisible. The kind that seeps into conversations when farmers feel unheard. The kind that weighs heavily on communities when headlines focus on policies but forget people. The kind that leads to isolation, despair, and heartbreaking statistics that don’t make the news until it’s too late.
We’ve become used to full shelves and the convenience of instant access. But we rarely stop to ask what it takes to keep that system running—and who is holding it all together.
Behind every crop, every truckload, every market stall is a family, a farm, and a community. And they are under pressure from all sides.
So. where will your food come from?
That’s the real question. If we keep trading food-producing land for housing, and pushing our producers out of viable markets, who fills that gap?
Imports?
Higher prices?
Reliance on countries with lower standards and less humane practices?
The answer isn’t simple—but the warning signs are.
And they deserve our attention before they become a crisis headline.
A reminder to choose yourself, too
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. But change doesn’t always start with policy. Sometimes, it starts with small, personal moments.
Taking 1% of your day—that’s just 14 minutes—to pause, breathe, and reset. To check in with yourself. Or to check in with someone else. Especially in regional communities where silence often replaces support.
We all eat. We all rely on someone else to grow, raise, or make our meals possible. And we all have a role in making sure that doesn’t become a forgotten luxury.
🎧 Want to dive deeper into this topic?
Watch the latest episode of Suzi Says, where we explore what’s really at stake when we stop valuing the people and the land that feed us.
🎙️ 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:
🌐 Website: https://workbenchforthemind.mykajabi.com/podcasts/suzi-says-have-a-good-listen/episodes/2149033272
📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/NVBE1w1ZlUU
🎙️ Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/snoozevans/episodes/Drought-Where-Will-Your-Food-Come-From-When-There-Are-No-Farmers-Left-e331ads
🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/drought-where-will-your-food-come-from-when-there-are/id1790364435?i=1000708939119
This episode is a call to action for all of us—urban or rural, farmer or city dweller—to open our eyes, open our hearts, and speak up before it’s too late.
𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦—𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 🎧 💖
