In just a couple of generations, the UK has experienced a food revolution. Instead of relying on what can be grown or caught or processed locally, we have daily access to a great choice of products from around the world, delivered to a local store by highly efficient ‘Just-In-Time’ distribution systems, run by a few large suppliers. But in a world of increasing uncertainty, asks Prof. Tim Lang, author of a new report on national food security, how well prepared are we for any disruption?

Just about everything we eat or wear or use has been brought from somewhere distant. A vast web of intricate global supply chains coordinate the movement of container ships, freight planes and lorries to an ever-increasing pitch of precision. But, says Prof. Aseem Kinra of Heriot-Watt University, the more we optimise a system, the less resilient it is to any disruption – in an increasingly uncertain world. He looks at the risks – and possible ways for an island community to build resilience.

Over the past 4 billion years we’ve come through some thrilling, chilling episodes, says Prof. John Baez, University of California Riverside and University of Edinburgh. We collided with the planet Theia, there was ‘Snowball Earth’ when most of the oceans froze, and there was the asteroid impact that ended the age of dinosaurs. Some catastrophes are well documented, others only theorised, but life somehow came through them all. Can this, he asks, give us hope in today’s uncertain times?