No Farmers. No Food: Why Protecting Australian Farmland Matters to Us

At Yeppoonie Smoothie, we don't normally get involved in political issues.

We're a small Australian food business. We make smoothies, we source ingredients and, wherever possible, we buy Australian-grown ingredients directly from the farmers who grow them.

But perhaps that's exactly why we should be talking about what's happening to Australian farmland.

Because without farmers, businesses like ours don't exist.

A worrying trend

Across parts of regional Australia, productive farmland is facing increasing pressure from competing land uses.

In Victoria, we're seeing proposed mineral developments and new high-voltage transmission infrastructure affecting farming areas, including circumstances where land may be compulsorily acquired.

At the same time, renewable energy projects — including large-scale solar and wind developments and the transmission infrastructure required to connect them — are increasingly becoming part of Australia's rural landscape.

Australia needs energy.

We need minerals.

We need infrastructure.

And we need to plan for the future.

But we also need food.

This shouldn't be a debate about choosing one or the other. It should be about finding the right balance and asking whether our most productive agricultural land is always the right place for these developments.

Once productive farmland is gone, it's difficult to replace

Australia has an enormous landmass, but that doesn't mean every hectare is equally capable of producing food.

Climate, rainfall, soil quality, water availability and geography determine where particular crops and livestock can be successfully produced.

Some agricultural regions have been producing food for generations.

When highly productive farmland is permanently converted to another use, we can't simply create equivalent farmland somewhere else.

That's why we believe food security needs to be part of the conversation when major infrastructure, energy and mining projects are being planned.

Australia has been incredibly fortunate

Australia is currently a major food-exporting nation.

For generations, we've produced enough food not only to feed ourselves but to export enormous quantities around the world.

It's something many of us probably take for granted.

But recent projections have raised a worrying possibility: if current trends continue, Australia could face domestic production shortfalls in a range of everyday foods over the coming decades, with some estimates suggesting Australia could eventually become a net importer of food and fibre.

Whether or not those projections ultimately eventuate, they raise an important question:

Are we doing enough now to protect our future ability to produce food?

Food security isn't something we should start worrying about after there's a problem.

Supporting Australian farmers isn't just a slogan for us

This issue is particularly close to our hearts at Yeppoonie because farmers are part of our supply chain.

Wherever possible, we source our Australian-grown ingredients directly from the farmers who grow them.

When you buy a bag of Yeppoonie Smoothie, you're supporting our small Australian-owned business.

But that support goes further.

You're helping us continue buying ingredients from Australian growers, supporting regional communities and keeping Australian food manufacturing alive.

Australia has also watched many iconic Australian-founded food brands eventually pass into foreign ownership.

That makes us even more determined to remain proudly Australian owned and to support other Australian businesses and farmers wherever we can.

This isn't anti-renewables or anti-development

It's important to make this clear.

Protecting farmland doesn't mean Australia shouldn't build renewable energy, transmission infrastructure, mines or other projects we need.

We absolutely need an energy plan and infrastructure for Australia's future.

But those decisions should also recognise that productive agricultural land is itself critical national infrastructure.

Our food has to come from somewhere.

Farmers need certainty. Regional communities deserve to have their voices heard. And Australia's long-term food-producing capacity deserves to be considered alongside our energy, mineral and infrastructure needs.

Surely we can do both.

Every purchase is a choice

As consumers, none of us can solve these enormous issues individually.

But we can make choices.

We can look at where our food comes from.

We can choose Australian-grown ingredients when they're available.

We can look beyond Australian made and ask whether the company we're buying from is actually Australian owned.

And we can support the farmers and small businesses that are still producing food here.

Buy Australian grown.

Buy Australian owned.

Support our farmers.

Protect our farmland.

NO FARMERS. NO FOOD.

Yeppoonie Smoothie
Australian owned. Supporting Australian farmers.