Lesson 15 slaughterhouses and meat processing plants

1.Read and memorize the following words:

significant [sı g'nı fı kə nt] важливий, суттєвий

e.g. Few foods besides milk and cheese, and most bread contain significant amounts of calcium.

outdated [ˌ aʊ t'deı tı d] застарілий

e.g. To improve the output and the economical situation, the manager of the plant suggested their using all modern equipment and getting rid of the outdated machines.

to neglect [nı 'glekt] нехтувати

e.g. You shouldn’t neglect the chance of getting that job..

renovation [ˌ renə 'veı ʃ n] відбудова, обновлення

e.g. The renovation of old equipment will need much time and effort.

emergency store [ı 'mɜ: ʤ ə nsı 'stɔ: ] недоторканий запас

e.g. The emergency store is the amount of products, kept to be used only in extraordinary situations.

destination [ˌ destı 'neı ʃ n] призначення, пункт призначення

e.g. The parcel was sent to the wrong destination.

directly [dı 'rektlı ] прямо, безпосередньо

e.g. Most livestock are now sold by the producer directly to the packing plant rather than to brokers.

delay [dı 'leı ] затримка

e.g. Since the delay after harvesting is minimal, the nutrients in the high quality fresh foods are generally well retained.

to generate ['ʤ enə reı t] виробляти

e.g. The bacteria in the large intestine (товста кишка) form B-vitamins and vitamin K; they also generate gas (mainly hydrogen).

2.Match the words with their definitions.

3.Read and translate the text.

In the CIS (Community of Independent States), largescale meat plants continue to face significant difficulties. Slaughtering capacity is generally under-utilised, mainly due to decrease of cattle and pig numbers. Some slaughterhouses closed and others are working at a fraction – maybe even lower than 10% - of their capacity. Most of the slaughterhouses equipment is outdated and maintenance is often neglected. Former Soviet industrial organisations dealing with red meat sector disappeared while those dealing with white meat (poultry) are still on the job. At the beginning of 1990s, there were some 1, 000 slaughterhouses all over the CIS. The four biggest meat packing plants were built in 1930 as a reproduction of a Chicago meat packing plant. Since then there has been no renovation or modernisation whatsoever. These plants were – and still are – a combination of slaughterhouse for both cattle and pigs and further processing of meat products. In this context, largescale plant means a slaughter capacity of 500–1, 000 cattle per day and some 2-3, 000 pigs per day.

In addition, because of the enormous distances in the former Soviet Union, it was far easier to build several small slaughterhouses all over the regions. They have a slaughter capacity, on daily average, of some 200-4000 cattle and 1, 000 pigs. In combination with the slaughtering there always is further meat processing. The objective was to produce enough meat products for retail shops, emergency store, and social organisations such as kindergarten, canteen, hospitals, etc. About a quarter of the products was sausage. Most of the production was consumed within the region, though the meat for emergency store could have other destinations.

Most of the CIS meat plants are now closed or partially open during some months, mainly for lack of livestock to slaughter. In many cases the slaughtering facility is just closed and the rest of the plant processes a limited amount of imported meat to produce sausages. Almost all of the shrunken output of processes meat is sold on the market or given to employees as wages, while there is almost no supply for emergency store, canteens, hospitals, etc. Though, there are continuous changes in the structure of the meat processing industry, e.g. some former state farms, factories and trading firms are all setting up new companies to process meat directly. A large share of the slaughtered animals are either processed or frozen. Frozen meat is also sold via shops as “fresh meat”. In most CIS countries, generally meat processors supply directly retail shops. However, as payment delays are becoming the rule, an increasing number of meat processors are opening their own shops to generate cash flow. With privatisation, the previous link between farmers and processors has been broken and payments delays have forced farmers to setting up their own small slaughtering facilities, sometimes in former state farms. Once they meet their own needs, they sell the rest of the meat on town markets or to local processing plants. Most of the never-frozen fresh meat is produced indeed by small private producers. Today it is estimated that household plots accounts for half of the total CIS production of livestock, meat and meat products.

4.Answer the following questions.

1.What difficulties do large scale meat plants continue to face?

2.What were the peculiarities of small slaughterhouses in the former Soviet Union?

3.Why are most of the CIS meat plants closed or partially open nowadays?

4.What are the difficulties of the slaughtering facilities and the plant process?

5.What are the changes in the structure of the meat processing industry?

6.What influence did the privatisation have on the links between farmers and processors?

5.Translate the following word combinations into English, find sentences with them in the text and read them out.

Скорочення потужностей, застаріле обладнання, оновлення, подальша обробка, величезні відстані, споживати, частково відкриті, обмежена кількість, постачання, м’ясопереробна промисловість, створювати нові компанії, забиті тварини, переробники м’яса, готівковий обіг, колишні колгоспи, приватні виробники.

6.Match the left and the right sides of one sentence.

7.Find in the text the derivatives from the following words. Define what parts of speech they are. Read and translate sentences with them.

To utilise, to slaughter, industry, to process, to produce, part, to employ, to pay, to freeze.

8.Compose the plan to the text and retell it.