I was born in Ukraine just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and spent my childhood witnessing the severe crisis of a country transitioning from a planned to a market economy. There was literally no food to buy at the shops as supply chains collapsed. I learned first-hand what a disrupted food system looks like. Fortunately, Ukraine is rich in agriculture. My grandparents had a large garden where we grew fruits and vegetables for our own consumption with zero pesticides or sophisticated technology. That was the beginning of my connection to agriculture.