Back in print ( 4th Edition) In a complex and globalized world it has become increasingly difficult to trace the lines that link raw materials with producers, products and consumers. Designer Christien Meindertsma has published an intelligent project that attempts to chart this phenomena. An extensive collection of photographic images has been assembled that document the mind-boggling array of various products that different parts of an anonymous pig called 05049 could support. A visual essay without moral undertones, this complete image of what the pig means to mankind provides a timely serving of food for thought.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A. R. Schwid
Amazon Verified Purchase
This book proves that a picture is worth a thousand words. You can read every book about the modern food industry, but it is this photo essay that most brilliantly and elegantly captures the entire "food" chain.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Beckmueller
Amazon Verified Purchase
... and an art project both useful (i.e. objectively informative) and inspriring.
Some aspects:
- apart from a short foreword and author's "explanation" at the end, the book contains 185 double pages. On each right page, you will find a picture of the end product made from pig #05049. The corresponding page on the left carries a very short written description of the final pig product and its use for human consumption or other consumptive/industrial uses. Some pictures extend over both right and left pages. Each right page shows the accumulated weight of the pig's parts shown so far in grams, eventually adding up to the 103,700 grams which pig #05049 weighed at the time of its slaughter. The book also contains an index for quick reference, plus a genealogical map of the product categories, and a map showing the products' places of origin in the pig's body. IMHO, the written explanations should have digged a lot deeper, carrying more information about the respective products and involved industries. The book is less of a "read" than rather of a "look".
- the author takes a highly commendable neutral, factual stance, herself advocating neither vegetarianism nor the meat industry. It's ultimately sober, leaving it to the consumers of this piece of art to make up their own hearts and minds about the subject. No lecturing, no preaching, no patronizing, no advertizing. The impression left by the book and its subject matter is 100% up to the reader and his/her individual value preferences. In that sense, the book depicts reality in a way which reflects the individual beholder, like a true piece of art. I got both hungry and quite grateful towards pig 05049 (and its millions of sisters) for contributing so much to my life in comfort.
- My book (3rd imprint, October 2009) is not covered in pig skin (just cardboard and paper), nor is it numbered. I wonder to what extent the cheap appearance justifies the price.
- While this would, admittedly, not be very ingenious, similar works on cattle and chicken (for example) would be very interesting to me, too. They should just go substantially deeper on the research side (see above).
Some aspects:
- apart from a short foreword and author's "explanation" at the end, the book contains 185 double pages. On each right page, you will find a picture of the end product made from pig #05049. The corresponding page on the left carries a very short written description of the final pig product and its use for human consumption or other consumptive/industrial uses. Some pictures extend over both right and left pages. Each right page shows the accumulated weight of the pig's parts shown so far in grams, eventually adding up to the 103,700 grams which pig #05049 weighed at the time of its slaughter. The book also contains an index for quick reference, plus a genealogical map of the product categories, and a map showing the products' places of origin in the pig's body. IMHO, the written explanations should have digged a lot deeper, carrying more information about the respective products and involved industries. The book is less of a "read" than rather of a "look".
- the author takes a highly commendable neutral, factual stance, herself advocating neither vegetarianism nor the meat industry. It's ultimately sober, leaving it to the consumers of this piece of art to make up their own hearts and minds about the subject. No lecturing, no preaching, no patronizing, no advertizing. The impression left by the book and its subject matter is 100% up to the reader and his/her individual value preferences. In that sense, the book depicts reality in a way which reflects the individual beholder, like a true piece of art. I got both hungry and quite grateful towards pig 05049 (and its millions of sisters) for contributing so much to my life in comfort.
- My book (3rd imprint, October 2009) is not covered in pig skin (just cardboard and paper), nor is it numbered. I wonder to what extent the cheap appearance justifies the price.
- While this would, admittedly, not be very ingenious, similar works on cattle and chicken (for example) would be very interesting to me, too. They should just go substantially deeper on the research side (see above).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
PIG 05049 was a fun book to browse through --- it's not really a book for cover-to-cover reading. it's fascinating to see where poor pig 05049 ended up and at times quite astonishing and unexpected (keyword: bread).
a real pig-out :-)
a real pig-out :-)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
increible
nunca imagine que un puerco produjera tal cantidad de productos para el uso y consumo del humano, una recopilación bastante profunda e interesante.
Published 3 months ago by A. Guzman Torres
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book
Got it for my girlfriend and she loves it! It is very very interesting the things you will read in the book.
Published 4 months ago by Jonathan Schultz
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dictionary of death
This book is important. It's really, really important. We want to live more compassionate lives? Forget about eating animals, if we want to stop harming them, we need to live... Read more
Published on January 28, 2011 by K. I. Hope
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring
Actually I haven't read this book, and from visiting the blog mentioning about this book, I kind of feel inspired. Read more
Published on October 24, 2009 by Huang-kai Chen
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