Christien Meindertsma: How pig parts make the world turn

Translator: Miriam Matejova Reviewer: Janka Pazurikova

Hello. I would like to start my talk

Rada by som začala

with actually two questions, and the first one is:

dvoma otázkami. Prvá je:

How many people here actually eat pig meat?

Koľkí z vás jedia bravčovinu?

Please raise your hand --

Prosím zdvihnite ruku.

oh, that's a lot.

To je veľa.

And how many people have actually seen

A koľkí z vás videli

a live pig producing this meat?

živé prasa?

In the last year?

Za posledný rok?

In the Netherlands -- where I come from --

V Holandsku, odkiaľ pochádzam,

you actually never see a pig, which is really strange,

nikdy prasa neuvidíte, čo je divné,

because, on a population of 16 million people,

pretože na 16 miliónov ľudí tam

we have 12 million pigs.

pripadá 12 miliónov prasiat.

And well, of course, the Dutch can't eat all these pigs.

Samozrejme, že Holanďania nemôžu zjesť všetky tieto prasatá.

They eat about one-third, and the rest is exported

Zjedia asi jednu tretinu, a zvyšok je vyvážaný

to all kinds of countries in Europe and the rest of the world.

do rôznych krajín Európy a celého sveta.

A lot goes to the U.K., Germany.

Veľa z toho ide do Veľkej Británie, do Nemecka.

And what I was curious about --

A čo ma zaujímalo -

because historically, the whole pig would be used up until the last bit

v minulosti sa celé prasa využilo, až do posledného kúsku,

so nothing would be wasted --

a nič nevyšlo nazmar.

and I was curious to find out

Bola som zvedavá,

if this was actually still the case.

či to tak stále je.

And I spent about three years researching.

Tri roky som robila výskum.

And I followed this one pig

Sledovala som jedno prasa

with number "05049,"

s číslom "05049"

all the way up until the end

až po jeho koniec

and to what products it's made of.

a po výrobky z neho vyrobené.

And in these years, I met all kinds people

Počas týchto rokov som stretla rôznych ľudí,

like, for instance, farmers and butchers, which seems logical.

farmárov a mäsiarov, čo je logické.

But I also met aluminum mold makers,

Ale aj výrobcov hliníkových fólií

ammunition producers

a streliva

and all kinds of people.

a rôznych iných ľudí.

And what was striking to me

Prekvapivé bolo,

is that the farmers actually had no clue

že farmári vôbec nevedeli,

what was made of their pigs,

čo sa vyrobilo z ich prasiat,

but the consumers -- as in us --

ale spotrebitelia - my -

had also no idea

sme tiež nevedeli,

of the pigs being in all these products.

že vo všetkých týchto produktoch sú prasatá.

So what I did is,

Tak som vzala

I took all this research

všetok výskum

and I made it into a -- well, basically it's a product catalog of this one pig,

a usporiadala som ho do - no je to katalóg tohto jedného prasaťa.

and it carries a duplicate of his ear tag

Na rube má kópiu jeho ušnej

on the back.

značky.

And it consists of seven chapters --

Pozostáva zo siedmich kapitol:

the chapters are skin, bones, meat, internal organs,

Koža, kosti, mäso, vnútorné orgány,

blood, fat and miscellaneous.

krv, tuk a rôzne.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

In total,

Dokopy

they weigh 103.7 kilograms.

vážia 103.7 kíl.

And to show you how often you actually

Ukážem vám, ako často sa denne

meet part of this pig in a regular day,

stretnete s časťami tohto prasaťa.

I want to show you some images of the book.

Tu sú niektoré obrázky z knihy.

You probably start the day with a shower.

Asi začnete svoj deň sprchou.

So, in soap, fatty acids

V mydle sa mastné kyseliny,

made from boiling pork bone fat

pripravené varením prasačieho tuku z kosti,

are used as a hardening agent,

používajú ako tvrdidlo,

but also for giving it a pearl-like effect.

ale aj pre perleťový efekt.

Then if you look around you in the bathroom,

Ak sa v kúpeľni rozhliadnete,

you see lots more products

uvidíte ešte viac výrobkov,

like shampoo, conditioner,

ako šampón, kondicionér,

anti-wrinkle cream, body lotion,

krém proti vráskam, telové mlieko,

but also toothpaste.

aj zubnú pastu.

Then, so, before breakfast,

Ešte pred raňajkami

you've already met the pig so many times.

ste stretli prasa už niekoľkokrát.

Then, at breakfast, the pig that I followed,

Pri raňajkách vás prasa nasleduje.

the hairs off the pig or proteins from the hairs off the pig

Prasačie chlpy, alebo bielkoviny z prasačích chlpov

were used as an improver of dough.

sa použili na zlepšenie cesta.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

Well, that's what the producer says: it's "improving the dough,

Aspoň výrobca hovorí, že cesto je potom "lepšie."

of course."

Viete, ako to je.

In low-fat butter, or actually in many low-fat products,

V nízkotučnom masle a v mnohých nízkotučných výrobkoch,

when you take the fat out, you actually take the taste and the texture out.

ak odstránite tuk, odoberiete im chuť a štruktúru.

So what they do is they put gelatin back in,

Preto sa tam dáva želatína, aby sa

in order to retain the texture.

zachovala štruktúra.

Well, when you're off to work, under the road or under the buildings that you see,

Keď idete do práce, pod cestou alebo pod budovami, ktoré vidíte,

there might very well be cellular concrete,

sa môže nachádzať ľahčený betón.

which is a very light kind of concrete

Je to veľmi ľahký typ betónu,

that's actually got proteins from bones inside

ktorý obsahuje bielkoviny z kostí,

and it's also fully reusable.

a je znovu použiteľný.

In the train brakes -- at least in the German train brakes --

Vo vlakových brzdách, aspoň v tých nemeckých, je

there's this part of the brake

časť brzdy vyrobená

that's made of bone ash.

z kostného prachu.

And in cheesecake and all kinds of desserts,

A v tvarohovom koláči a v iných dezertoch

like chocolate mousse, tiramisu, vanilla pudding,

ako čokoládová pena, tiramisu, vanilkový puding,

everything that's cooled in the supermarket,

všetko, čo je v supermarkete chladené,

there's gelatin to make it look good.

obsahuje želatínu, aby to dobre vyzeralo.

Fine bone china -- this is a real classic.

Jemný čínsky porcelán - klasika.

Of course, the bone in fine-bone china

Kosť v jemnom čínskom porceláne

gives it its translucency

dodá priesvitnosť

and also its strength,

a aj pevnosť,

in order to make these really fine shapes,

aby bolo možné vyrobiť veľmi jemné tvary

like this deer.

ako tento srnec.

In interior decorating, the pig's actually quite there.

Prasa je v mnohých interiérových dekoráciách.

It's used in paint for the texture,

Pridáva sa do farby kvôli štruktúre

but also for the glossiness.

aj kvôli lesku.

In sandpaper, bone glue

V šmirgli

is actually the glue between the sand and the paper.

je lepidlo medzi papierom a pieskom tiež z kostí.

And then in paintbrushes,

V maliarskych štetcoch sa

hairs are used because, apparently, they're very suitable for making paintbrushes

používajú chlpy, lebo sú veľmi vhodné pre výrobu štetcov

because of their hard-wearing nature.

kvôli svojej tvrdosti.

I was not planning on showing you any meat

Neplánovala som vám ukázať mäso,

because, of course, half the book's meat

lebo polovica knihy je o mäse,

and you probably all know what meats they are.

a všetci určite viete, aké je to mäso.

But I didn't want you to miss out on this one,

Ale nechcela som vynechať toto.

because this, well, it's called "portion-controlled meat cuts."

Volá sa to porciované mäsové rezy.

And this is actually sold

Predávajú sa

in the frozen area of the supermarket.

v mraziarňach supermarketov.

And what it is -- it's actually steak.

V skutočnosti je to hovädzí steak.

So, this is sold as cow,

Toto je vlastne krava,

but what happens when you slaughter a cow --

ale keď zabijete kravu -

at least in industrial factory farming --

aspoň v priemyselných veľkochovoch -

they have all these little bits of steak left

zostanú im kúsky steakov, ktoré

that they can't actually sell as steak,

nemôžu predať ako celý steak.

so what they do is they glue them all together

A tak ich pozliepajú

with fibrin from pig blood

fibrínom z prasačej krvi

into this really large sausage,

do veľmi veľkej klobásy,

then freeze the sausage, cut it in little slices

ktorú potom zmrazia, nakrájajú na kúsky

and sell those as steak again.

a predajú ako steak.

And this also actually happens with tuna and scallops.

Robia to aj s tuniakom a lastúrami.

So, with the steak, you might drink a beer.

K steaku si možno dáte pivo.

In the brewing process, there's lots of cloudy elements in the beer,

Počas varenia sa pivo zakalí.

so to get rid of these cloudy elements,

A tak

what some companies do

niektoré fabriky

is they pour the beer through a sort of gelatin sieve

pivo prelejú cez akési želatínové sitko,

in order to get rid of that cloudiness.

aby sa zbavili toho zákalu.

This actually also goes for wine as well as fruit juice.

Toto sa robí aj s vínom a ovocným džúsom.

There's actually a company in Greece

V Grécku je firma, ktorá

that produces these cigarettes

vyrába cigarety s filtrom,

that actually contain hemoglobin from pigs in the filter.

v ktorom je hemoglobín z prasiat.

And according to them,

Podľa nich

this creates an artificial lung in the filter.

to vytvorí vo filtri umelé pľúca.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

So, this is actually a healthier cigarette.

Toto je teda zdravšia cigareta.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

Injectable collagen -- or, since the '70s, collagen from pigs --

Injekčný kolagén - alebo, od 70-tych rokov, kolagén z prasiat -

has been used for injecting into wrinkles.

sa používa na zahladenie vrások.

And the reason for this is that pigs are actually quite close to human beings,

Prasatá sú dosť podobné ľuďom, takže aj

so the collagen is as well.

kolagén je podobný.

Well, this must be the strangest thing I found.

Toto je asi najčudnejšia vec, akú som našla.

This is a bullet coming from

Toto je guľka

a very large ammunition company in the United States.

z veľmi veľkej zbrojnej firmy v Spojených Štátoch.

And while I was making the book,

Keď som písala knihu,

I contacted all the producers of products

kontaktovala som výrobcov všetkých týchto

because I wanted them to send me the real samples

výrobkov, lebo som chcela, aby mi poslali

and the real specimens.

skutočné vzorky.

So I sent this company an email

Tak som im poslala e-mail,

saying, "Hello. I'm Christien. I'm doing this research.

píšuc: "Ahoj. Som Christien. Robím takýto výskum.

And can you send me a bullet?"

Môžete mi poslať guľku?"

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

And well, I didn't expect them to even answer my email.

Nečakala som, že mi odpovedia, ale

But they answered

oni odpísali:

and they said, "Why, thank you for your email. What an interesting story.

"Ďakujeme za váš e-mail. Aký zaujímavý príbeh.

Are you in anyway related to the Dutch government?"

Máte nejaké spojenie s holandskou vládou?"

I thought that was really weird,

To bolo divné.

as if the Dutch government sends emails to anyone.

Ako keby holandská vláda posielala e-maily kadekomu.

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

So, the most beautiful thing I found --

To najkrajšie, čo som našla,

at least what I think is the most beautiful -- in the book, is this heart valve.

alebo podľa mňa najkrajšie, čo som našla, je táto srdcová chlopňa.

It's actually a very low-tech

Je to veľmi jednoduchý,

and very high-tech product at the same time.

ale zároveň z technického hľadiska špičkový výrobok.

The low-tech bit is that it's literally a pig's heart valve

Je to prasačia srdcová chlopňa

mounted in the high-tech bit,

namontovaná v tomto kúsku,

which is a memory metal casing.

čo je kovové puzdro s pamäťou.

And what happens is this can be implanted into a human heart

Môže byť implantované do ľudského srdca

without open heart surgery.

bez otvorenej operácie srdca.

And once it's in the right spot,

Keď je na správnom mieste,

they remove the outer shell,

vonkajšia schránka sa vyberie,

and the heart valve, well, it gets this shape

a chlopňa nadobudne tento tvar,

and at that moment it starts beating, instantly.

a v tom momente začne biť.

It's really a sort of magical moment.

Je to čarovný moment.

So this is actually a Dutch company,

Pracuje na tom holandská firma.

so I called them up, and I asked,

Zavolala som im a spýtala sa:

"Can I borrow a heart valve from you?"

"Môžem si požičať srdcovú chlopňu?"

And the makers of this thing were really enthusiastic.

Výrobcovia boli skutočne nadšení.

So they were like, "Okay, we'll put it in a jar for you with formalin,

Povedali: "Dáme vám ju do pohára s formalínom a môžete

and you can borrow it."

si ju požičať."

Great -- and then I didn't hear from them for weeks,

Skvelé. Potom som od nich týždne nič nepočula,

so I called,

tak som im zavolala

and I asked, "What's going on with the heart valve?"

a spýtala sa: "Čo sa deje s tou chlopňou?"

And they said, "Well the director of the company

Oni povedali: "Riaditeľ vám tú chlopňu

decided not to let you borrow this heart valve,

nechce požičať, lebo nechce,

because want his product

aby bol jeho výrobok

to be associated with pigs."

spájaný s prasatami."

(Laughter)

(Smiech)

Well, the last product from the book that I'm showing you is renewable energy --

Posledný výrobok, ktorý vám ukážem, je energia z obnoviteľných zdrojov -

actually, to show that my first question,

aby som vám ukázala, že moja prvá otázka,

if pigs are still used up until the last bit, was still true.

či sú prasatá zužitkované do posledného kúska, je stále pravdivá.

Well it is, because everything that can't be used for anything else

Je, pretože všetko, čo sa nedá použiť pre nič iné,

is made into a fuel

sa spracuje ako palivo,

that can be used as renewable energy source.

ktoré sa dá použiť ako zdroj obnoviteľnej energie.

In total, I found 185 products.

Našla som 185 výrobkov.

And what they showed me

Ukázali mi, že,

is that, well, firstly,

v prvom rade

it's at least to say odd

je divné, že s týmito

that we don't treat these pigs

prasatami nezaobchádzame

as absolute kings and queens.

ako s kráľmi a kráľovnami.

And the second, is that we actually don't have a clue

Po druhé, nemáme potuchy o tom, z čoho

of what all these products that surround us are made of.

sú všetky výrobky okolo nás vyrobené.

And you might think I'm very fond of pigs,

Možno si myslíte, že mám veľmi rada prasatá,

but actually -- well, I am a little bit --

ale v skutočnosti - no trochu ich mám rada -

but I'm more fond

ale vo všeobecnosti

of raw materials in general.

mám viac rada suroviny ako také.

And I think that, in order to take better care

Aby sme sa lepšie starali o to, čo je

of what's behind our products --

za našimi výrobkami -

so, the livestock, the crops, the plants,

dobytok, úroda, rastliny,

the non-renewable materials,

neobnoviteľné zdroje,

but also the people that produce these products --

ale aj ľudia, ktorí tieto výrobky vyrábajú -

the first step would actually be to know that they are there.

prvým krokom je uvedomiť si, že tam sú.

Thank you very much.

Ďakujem veľmi pekne.

(Applause)

(Potlesk)