Prof. Tim Lang calls for urgent action to tackle the UK's dependence on imported food and the supermarket 'just-in-time' distribution system. Increasing risks from climate, inflation, and international conflict require national and local action on stockpiling, he says, and to rapidly expand our food production at all levels, with communities playing a vital part.

Not long ago Orkney could feed itself: today weather delays mean gaps on supermarket shelves. But, says Dr Henry Creissen, the director of UHI's Agronomy and Agriculture Institute, the range of crops that can be grown is considerable, and particularly when protection is provided, for instance by a polycrub. He describes the results that are coming from vertical farming trials. Rebecca Ford joins him to give news of community food-growing initiatives in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Researchers are working to develop crops with greater climate resilience and also improved nutrition. That means, says Prof. Wendy Russell of the University of Aberdeen’s Rowett Institute, improving existing crops such as barley and brassica species, introducing new alternatives like hemp and buckwheat, and also looking at ways to harvest wild plants like wild garlic and sorrel. In such ways, she says, we can improve diet, utilise less favourable land, and expand overall local food production.

Could ammonia be the fuel of the future? Yes, says Dr Angela Kruth of Germany’s start-up CAMPFIRE AG, who leads an international alliance working on its development. Ammonia is formed of nitrogen and hydrogen. The hydrogen can come from renewable energy sources – and thereby provides a way to store energy from wind or solar. It’s simpler to handle and transport than hydrogen, and it’s also cost-effective. In fact, she says, “Ammonia is a game-changer for the energy future.”