Visiting Professor, Department of Global Development
About
Dr. Hannah van Zanten is a visiting professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell CALS. She is Associate Professor at the Wageningen University Farming Systems Ecology group and the project leader of the circular food systems project. It is her ambition to unravel how circular food systems can contribute to producing healthy foods for a growing population within the carrying capacity of the Earth. She recently was awarded the NWO Talent Scheme grant (VENI) in which she aims to assess the role of animals in a circular food system. Her research shows that farm animals reared under a circular paradigm can play a crucial role in feeding humanity, while reducing the environmental impact.
Education
MS in Animal Science, Wageningen University (2009)
The EU wants to make the transition to a circular food system, where waste is minimized, waste products are recycled and our impact on the planet is reduced. But what will we eat in the circular food system? What kinds of animals will we keep? And what crops will we grow? A new study, published on April 17 in Nature Food, outlined the opportunities for the EU & the UK (EU27+UK) in four scenarios, starting with the current system and culminating in a fully circular food system.