In this TEDxAmsterdam video, Dutch artist Christien Meindertsma discusses her project PIG 05049, a book documenting all the products created from different parts of an anonymous pig called 05049. Her research uncovered the obvious but to everyone's surprise, it also uncovered much, much more. Frankly, I was surprised to learn how many things had gelatin in them and also how much you could make with pig bones. Christien's last statement is poignant:
"... I really made this book because I love raw materials. What I think this book tells us is that we have no clue what is in our products. I think if we want to take care of what's behind these products, for instance, natural resources, the people working on all these products, as well as all the livestock behind it, we really need to know more about the stories behind our products."
Just last week a stranger stopped me at the market to ask me what plant I had purchased. I answered, "These are brussels sprouts still on the stalk." The person was a little embarrassed and surprised as she'd never seen brussels sprouts in "the wild" before. In a world where we hardly know where our food comes from, it's amazing to learn about where so many other things we use might come from too. Christien Meindertsma's body of work is truly breathtaking. I hope you enjoy her research as much as I did!
