Hannah van Zanten

Associate Professor at the Farming Systems Ecology group at WUR is an expert in the domain of circular food production systems.

She graduated cum laude for both her MSc Animal Sciences and PhD thesis, an achievement only accomplished by 1.5% of WUR researchers. She is the architect of a paradigm shift regarding the role of animals in our food system; a result of her analytical and data-driven approach. Her work showed that animals in a circular food system play an important role in feeding humanity while minimizing their environmental impact. This breakthrough contradicts the dominant view that a meat-free diet is most environmentally friendly, a view that originates from solutions locked within the current linear food system. For a far-reaching redesign, we need to think much more radically. With her team, she is developing a circular food systems (CiFoS) model where stakeholders can co-design and evaluate innovative yet attainable food systems that secure human and planetary health.