Manage to start at a "green" zone .
Population of 30 ; I have 2 beet farms , with 5 people (max) working on each
Also 2 kitchen , 6 water tower, with 600 water storage
Basically most of my production is on food
All of this is just barely enough to survive. Means I make enough food for the day.
I believe 12 pop to feed 30 is a bit unbalanced.
As soon as I get to a "desert" zone, my entire town dies within 1-2 days
Seems, you need at least 3 beet farms, with 3 kitchen , that is 17 people ; out of 30 total population to survive. That doesnt leave you with any population to do anything else.