In a quiet but significant shift, the UK government has begun urging citizens to maintain modest emergency food reserves at home, acknowledging that the intricate global systems delivering food to shelves are increasingly exposed to forces — climate disruption, cyber-attacks, conflict — that no single nation fully controls. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle's guidance, echoed by nutrition scientists, is less a warning of imminent collapse than a sober invitation to prudence: to recognise that abundance is not guaranteed, and that a small act of preparation is a form of civic wisdom. The