Plant
Lives Matter Too!
“I've
always wondered this and still do. I'm not trying to be a jerk.
My
belief is that we all eat living things. Plants are living.
I
do understand that our current society and the whole food industry
really is scary when looked at from the perspective of the animals
that are eaten. And I totally believe that our nation is severely
overindulgent and there is of course a culture of excess that leads
to wastefulness. But if all these problems were solved, would it
still be ignoble to eat animals?
We
can't help but eat living material.
This
is my perspective and I want to understand the way some of you see
it.”
“Even
if you thing eating plants is bad, eating a plant-based diet lowers
the amount of plants that have to be picked. Think about it; any
animals you eat first have to eat tons of plants throughout their
life to grow to the point of slaughter. By cutting out the middleman
and eating only plants, there will be far fewer plants used to create
the same calorie amount of food.”
“You
are right that plants are alive,
but I'm not really upset about eating things just because they're
alive.
I'm
concerned about causing suffering
to
beings that can suffer.
I
know that a comment like this usually brings up the idea that "well
maybe plants can feel pain" or "didn't you see that new
article about plants being scared of a gardener" or something,
but my profession is plant genetics, and I have to say that no plant
researcher without an agenda is really taking "plant
consciousness" seriously at this point.
But
if you did wanna take that seriously, you could still subsist on
fruits, nuts, seeds, etc.--things that plants release naturally, so
as not to kill the plant. To each their own.”
“OK
I'll bite, it's about animals having central nervous systems, just
like yours, while plants aren't really sentient, they have no central
nervous systems and even if they had they have no brain to process it
all.
Animals
lives matter because of that, they have interests, plants don't.”
Do plant seeds have brains?
Herbal
conventionality holds that plant germination is a simply robotic
process, driven totally by outer boosts. The plant seed itself has
nothing to do with the issue.
Research
distributed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS), be that as it may, is set to drastically change that thought.
Researchers
from the University of Birmingham have found that the plants
themselves decide when to grow, viably settling on a choice through
the communication of two gatherings of cells that constitute a simple
of a mind.
The
researchers, drove by George Ben of the college's School of
Biosciences, found two sorts of cell working in show in the fetuses
of a plant called Arabidopsis, or thale cress. One gathering of cells
advances seed lethargy, while alternate drives germination.
Ben's
group found tat the two gatherings by and large capacity as a basic
leadership focus by moving hormones from one to the next.
A
computerized recreation of a plant incipient organism demonstrating
the area of basic leadership parts.
Utilizing
a hereditarily adjusted assortment of the thale cress that increased
concoction flagging, the scientists found that the two trade hormones
between the two cell bunches adequately prompted a choice of when to
trigger germination.
The
communication between the phones allowed more noteworthy control of
the planning of germination, guaranteeing that the procedure didn't
begin too soon – when cool conditions may execute the youthful
plant – or past the point of no return, when larger amounts of
rivalry may starve it.
"Our
work uncovers a critical detachment between the parts inside a plant
basic leadership focus," clarifies Ben.
"In
the human mind, this detachment is thought to present a period delay,
smoothing out loud flags from the earth and expanding the precision
with which we decide. The division of these parts in the seed "mind"
likewise has all the earmarks of being fundamental to how it
capacities."
Co-creator
Iain Johnston compares the basic leadership procedure to choosing
whether or not to go to the silver screen.
"The
division of circuit components enables a more extensive palette of
reactions to ecological jolts," he says.
"It
resembles the distinction between understanding one commentator's
audit of a film four times finished, or amalgamating four unique
faultfinders' perspectives previously choosing to go to the silver
screen."
Plant
seeds may utilize smaller than usual "brains" to enable
them to choose whether to grow or remain lethargic, new research
proposes.
These
seed "brains" don't have conventional dark issue, yet they
do utilize a similar engineering for data preparing as our brains do,
deciphering a course of hormone signs to choose when to grow, the
investigation found.
"Plants
are much the same as people as in they need to think and settle on
choices a similar way we do," said consider co-creator George
Ben, a plant scientist at the University of Birmingham in England.
People
settle on choices utilizing little gatherings of specific sensory
system cells inside the mind, Ben included.
Similarly,
"inside a lethargic seed there is few cells where the choice is
made. These cells demonstration comparably to the cells inside the
sensory system," Ben disclosed to Live Science.
Researchers
would one be able to day utilize these experiences to build seeds
that all pop open in the meantime each season, or to configuration
seeds to have a more noteworthy cushion against environmental change,
Ben said.
Something
worth mulling over
The
possibility that plants can feel, hear or see is not new; analysts
have demonstrated that seedlings curve toward hints of specific
frequencies or rush their development when a contending animal
categories is planted close-by. Also, plants can speak with each
other when risk is close-by, as indicated by a recent report in the
diary Oecologia.
So
plants "considering" isn't as fantastical as it sounds, Ben
said. One zone where precisely handling condition data is critical to
a plant's survival is in the planning of a seed's germination. Seeds
speak to the main way a plant can move noteworthy separations from an
unpleasant situation to a friendlier one — they can go far by being
eaten by creatures or carried on the breeze. They likewise show a
plant one of its few methods for traveling through time, Ben said. By
lying torpid in the ground until the point when the temperature or
different conditions are perfect, seeds can streamline their odds of
survival, Ben said.
To
see how plants settle on these choices, Ben and his associates made
an advanced map book of each and every cell inside the incipient
organisms (seeds) of the thale cress plant, or Arabidopsis thaliana.
They at that point mapped where particular hormones had a tendency to
be limited inside the seeds.
They
found that two hormones known to assume a part in germination, called
gibberellin (GA) and abscisic corrosive (ABA), indicated high focuses
in the tip of the embryonic root.
In
a seed made up of around 3,000 to 4,000 cells, in the vicinity of 25
and 40 of them appeared to assume the predominant part in trafficking
and handling these hormones. One cluster of cells created GA, which
advances the "develop" flag, while another bunch of cells,
isolated at some separation, delivered ABA, the "remain
lethargic" flag. The signs were being sent forward and backward
between the two locales, the investigation found.
"There's
a pull of-war between these two flags, some are stating "go,"
some are stating 'stop,'" Ben disclosed to Live Science.
In
the default express, the cells put out more ABA than GA. What's more,
as conditions outside the seed enhance, the GA levels step by step
increment until the point that the seed's "choice focus"
presumes that it's smarter to sprout than remain lethargic, the
scientists found in the investigation, which was distributed on
Monday (June 5) in the diary Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Timing
of germination
The
group additionally adjusted the articulation or movement of the
hormones in the plants, and demonstrated that by controlling the
levels and timing of the hormone flagging, they could control when
germination happened.
In
the plant seeds, the two contradicting focuses of the choice complex
are isolated in separate. In the human mind's engine cortex, two
separate districts start a "go" or "no go" flag,
either advancing or repressing the choice to move, Ben said. In
creatures, isolating the two areas keeps arbitrary clamor from
driving the body to settle on choices that may be wrong, he said.
In
the plant, the partition between the "go" and "no go"
areas of the choice focus are utilized to goad germination on
occasion when the temperature is fluctuating, the investigation
found. It's not clear why temperature variances ought to be so
critical to the plants, yet one plausibility is that it enables the
plants to detect how profound they are in the dirt. (The more
profound they are, the more cushioned they are against temperature
changes.) Another plausibility is that wide temperature swings
regularly occur at the difference in seasons, so temperature swings
can enable the seed to detect these progress periods, Ben said.
The
normal enlightening structure amongst plant and creature brains is
significantly additionally captivating on the grounds that they
plainly didn't develop from a similar anatomical structures, Ben
said. The last regular predecessor of plants and creatures was a
solitary celled, green growth like living being that lived 1.6
billion years back, as per a recent report in the diary Science.
However regardless of this immense transformative hole, the two
plants and creatures appear to have landed at a comparative
arrangement since it offered them some preferred standpoint in
responding to their condition, he included.
"The
two plants and creatures, through transformative procedures, have
settled on a comparative outline," Ben said.
“
A
number of studies have shown that plants feel pain, and vegetables
are picked and often eaten while still alive. Animal rights activists
are often in the news, but has anyone ever protested for vegetable
rights?
Phil
Cohen, Sydney, Australia
This
must be a spoof question. The comment "and often eaten while
still alive" raises the question when do vegetables die? two
minutes, ten minutes, two hours after being pulled from the ground???
Farmers often allow sheep to graze on mangolds and cabbages still
growing in the fields. Plants begin to wilt the moment that their
link with a supply of moisture is severed, so the fresher they are
the better the taste and nutritional value. Perhaps that Guru of
plants, HRH Prince Charles, should be consulted.
Jack
Hill, St Albans, England
As
far as I know no reputable study has ever shown that plants can "feel
pain". They lack the nervous system and brain necessary for this
to happen. A plant can respond to stimuli, for example by turning
towards the light or closing over a fly, but that is not the same
thing. It is also hard to see what purpose pain could serve for the
plant, since they can hardly run away. I am aware however that
similar arguments were put up in the past in favour of animals not
feeling pain! Supposing you decide that it is cruel to eat plants,
since they are alive and presumably have sensations of some sort,
what are you going to eat? Not a lot left on the menu if meat, and
veg are removed, is there? If it is alright so long as you "kill"
them first, how is this to be done? Is boiling them alive acceptable?
Perhaps it is alright to eat fruit, since the plant sheds these of
its own accord, but seeds and nuts are out as they are embryos !
Susan
Deal, Sheffield, UK
Neil,
the hippy in the Young Ones, is introduced to viewers by Griff Rhys
Jones (as 'Bambi' Gascoigne) and says 'vegetable rights and peace!'
to camera.
Max
Wurr, Stanmore, United Kingdom
I
suspect there have been as many protests for vegetable rights as
there have been reputable studies that have shown that plants feel
pain. I've never heard of either.
Michael
Fisher, Brisbane, Australia
The
Vegetable Rights Militant Movement has a website at
vegetablecruelty.com. Its current campaign protests that oil is
kinder than ethanol. What it apparently fails to realize, however, is
that oil derives from the corpses of billions of long dead plants,
many of them long extinct. While using oil for fuel may save corn and
sugarcane in the short run, it only encourages the exploitation of
plants in the hope that they will die, decay, and eventually produce
more hydrocarbon-based fuels. The coal and petroleum industries rely
on humans' short memories, smugly confident that few of us will
remember the Rhacopteris ovata and the Lepidodendron that gave their
lives hundreds of millions of years ago to fuel our internal
combustion engines. Oil is murder. Diamonds, too.
Bill
Dunlap, Hamden, Connecticut, USA
Some
fruitarians will only eat fruit, nuts and seeds that have fallen
naturally from the plant, ie. not been picked or cut. They are often
motivated by a desire to avoid killing in all forms - I'm not sure
that they believe that vegetables feel pain, however!
Amy,
Feather UK
It
seems none of you understand the definition of "pain." Pain
is defined as a signal of present or impending tissue damage affected
by a harmful stimulus, and thus is experienced by almost all
multicellular organisms. The question isn't whether or not plants
feel pain, the question is why is it okay to cause pain to plants but
not animals? Keep in mind not all plants react to pain in the same
way. Not all animals feel pain the same way (e.g. lobsters). This is
part of a much more complex argument. We need to ask some tough
questions. Is it wrong to harm people? Do plants and animals have the
same rights as people (to be free from harm)? Do they have any rights
at all? What kind of diet is within our nature and why should we
second-guess doing what is natural? Good luck.
Randall,
Cleveland US
I
was a vegetarian on and off growing up, and I'm now a srtict vegan. I
struggle daily with whether I should sacrifice the life of a plant to
eat, when I can find the same nutrition from a fruit (if you research
fruit nutrition many people survive more than happy healthy lives). I
adore my garden and house plants and know what they need to be
happy/healthy, and so when it comes to eating one I can't help but
think twice. Fruit seems to be given to us by the plants, bushes and
trees they come from, they want to provide for us the best they have
offer so that we will spread their seed. COHABITATION! Name another
life form that WANTS to feed us?. The very fact that in the first
stagest of life on Earth, everything was evolving from plants (making
them our orignal ansestors), I think should help us in giving them
the respect they deserve…
.
AnnMichelle,
Wirral uk
We
are made in God's image. He gave us the animals and the plants for
our use. We are born into this world to eat meat and plants. If we
were not meant to eat meat, we would only eat plants like some of the
Dinosaurs who ate only plants and not meat. Just like the Dinosaurs
who ate meat and no plants. And others Dinosaurs who ate both. We
were born to do both. Our teeth tells us that is what they were made
to do. Look at the teeth of planteaters and the teeth of meat eaters.
They were made just for that. That is why God put both plants and
meat for us to eat. We are what we are suppose to be. For that is
what God and nature wanted!
Lawrence
Gagnon, Waterville USA
For
plants to feel pain, they need a nervous system and a brain. And one
person cited vegetablecruelty.com as a source that plants feel pain.
I went on that site and it is obviously a joke.
Anonymous,
Gaithersburg, USA
If
you read, the book of Genesis, Ch. No. 9, Verse No. 2 and 3, it says
that 'They will fear you, they will dread you - all creatures of the
earth, all fouls in the sky, all creatures that liveth on the earth,
as well as all the fishes in the sea, they shall be delivered to
you’. Next Verse Genesis, Ch. 9, Verse 3 says that ‘Every creature
that moveth on land, and is a living creature - they are meat unto
you, and also herbs and shrubs’. Mentioned in the book of
Deuteronomy, Ch. No. 14, Verse No. 9, that ‘Ye shall have the meat
of all the things in the water - All that have fins and scales, you
shall eat’ - Deuteronomy, Ch. No. 14, Verse No. 11, says that… ‘You
shall have the lawful meat of the birds’. Deuteronomy Ch. No. 14,
Verse No. 20 says that… ‘Ye shall eat the meat of the lawful fowls’
- It is allowed. Further if you read, it is mentioned in the book of
Hebrews, Ch. No. 5, Verse No. 13 and 14 that… ‘If you have Milk,
you are weak - if you have strong meat, you are powerful in
reasoning’ - Bible says that… not I. In the Gospel of Luke, Ch. No.
24… only quotations Verse No. 41 to 43… Jesus Christ (peace be upon
him), goes in the upper room and he says… ‘Have you any meat to
eat?’- And the disciples gave him a piece of broiled fish and honey
comb… fish - and he ate before them. Jesus Christ (peace be upon
him) - in the book of Romans, Ch. No. 14, Verse No. 2 and 3, it says
that… ‘One who believth in eating all things, he can eat - those
who are weak, they only eat herbs and shrubs - but anyone who eateth,
should not insult those who eateth not - and those who eateth not,
should not judge those who eateth - This is law of God’.
Green,
Mumbai India
There
is an entire religion based upon this awareness, called Jainism, from
India. Also, this is why everyone gives thanks to the life that lent
itself to us so that we may sustain our own lives. There is no wrong
or right, it simply depends upon your own relationship to the life on
this planet. Each person is born with different things to accomplish
while they are here, and we eat - with gratitude - for whatever
supports our completion of those accomplishments. Gratitude and
respect for the life support is what is fundamental.
elarael,
Haiku USA
What,
now we can't eat PLANTS? You've got to be kidding me. Humans
shouldn't abandon predation just because we have morals. Humans are
not the only creatures on earth that prey on other creatures.
Jack,
San Jose, USA
I
think it's a little rediculous that there are vegetable rights, plus,
if you put it in animal terms, aren't most of the cells in animals
still alive when you eat them, plants are made out of cells too.
Noah
Shields , Fort Collins, US
First
of all, if you want to be religious about this think about how god
gave humans free will, so we could make decisions about things. We
can decide that we don't have to eat meat, and we can decide we
aren't meant to eat meat,and we can decide to not practice everything
in the bible. So don't justify it just because the bible, says to
take the life of something else so you can eat it when there are
other options to like eating plants. If you believe it's o.k. to eat
meat then please do it in a matter that is respectful. SO many
animals suffer being stuffed into small spaces, being crippled in
transportation and overfeeding, if you are going to eat an animal at
least give it the respect that it is a living being not just a
product. Treat it like it's alive when its alive! And it doesn't say
anywhere that you have to eat meat at every meal. You can easily
reduce your meat intake to help the earth in the long run. Cows are
being breed so that there are so many of them that the methane gas
that cows produce in their poop contribute to global warming greatly.
Everything in the process of producing a meat product takes up so
many essential resources that we need like the water they drink(which
is a lot for cows), the space where the animals are kept, the food
they eat(again is a lot to get them big), the gas in the factories
and in the transportation. At the very least be aware of everything
you eat and where you get it to make sure that the companies that
produce it are aware and care about the animals as beings because
everyone of your dollars are a vote. If the meat is cheap then they
usually don't take the time to make sure that the animals are treated
like animals and there wastes are being taken care of properly.The
big corporations just do it for the money and just treat them like a
product. They pack them full of antibiotics so that they don't get
diseases that they are exposed to from being stored in small spaces
packed with poop and all of those antibiotics, you are ingesting when
you eat meat. Grass fed humanely treated animals are the best. Do
your own research and just don't be ignorant because ignorance kills.
Bella, SC USA
First
of all, if you want to be religious about this think about how god
gave humans free will, so we could make decisions about things. We
can decide that we don't have to eat meat, and we can decide we
aren't meant to eat meat,and we can decide to not practice everything
in the bible. So don't justify it just because the bible, says to
take the life of something else so you can eat it when there are
other options to like eating plants. If you believe it's o.k. to eat
meat then please do it in a matter that is respectful. SO many
animals suffer being stuffed into small spaces, being crippled in
transportation and overfeeding, if you are going to eat an animal at
least give it the respect that it is a living being not just a
product. Treat it like it's alive when its alive! And it doesn't say
anywhere that you have to eat meat at every meal. You can easily
reduce your meat intake to help the earth in the long run. Cows are
being breed so that there are so many of them that the methane gas
that cows produce in their poop contribute to global warming greatly.
Everything in the process of producing a meat product takes up so
many essential resources that we need like the water they drink(which
is a lot for cows), the space where the animals are kept, the food
they eat(again is a lot to get them big), the gas in the factories
and in the transportation. At the very least be aware of everything
you eat and where you get it to make sure that the companies that
produce it are aware and care about the animals as beings because
everyone of your dollars are a vote. If the meat is cheap then they
usually don't take the time to make sure that the animals are treated
like animals and there wastes are being taken care of properly.The
big corporations just do it for the money and just treat them like a
product. They pack them full of antibiotics so that they don't get
diseases that they are exposed to from being stored in small spaces
packed with poop and all of those antibiotics, you are ingesting when
you eat meat. Grass fed humanely treated animals are the best. Do
your own research and just don't be ignorant because ignorance kills.
I don't believe that plants feel pain because they do not have a
nervous system and they don't have the neurons to carry pain signals.
Bella,
SC USA
Just
for those religious people out there who seemed to have forgotten. In
the beginning, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they did
not eat meat, for the lion would lay with the sheep and the man could
approach the lion. There was no killing, until they disobeyed God and
the Lion turned on the man and suffering came to be. God said that
when the end came and people were judged, those who were good would
go to heaven, or a paradise land where again, man could approach the
lion in a friendly manner, and the lion would lay next to the sheep
in peace once again. So for you to say God gave us animals for the
benefit of eating is absolute BS. According to all the Abrahamic
teachings, eating the flesh of another living creature is part of the
punishment bestowed upon man for disobeying God, seeing as eating
meat was not done in the Garden of Eden, making it a part of the
devils world, not God's. I am not a religious person at all, but I
was brought up in a religious home and taught the teachings and it
seems to me as though people who try to use the "God gave us
animals for the purpose of eating them" argument, leave out the
bit of important information that clearly states that animals were
originally made by God for man as companions. They seek to use the
"God made animals for eating" argument to justify the
cruelty inflicted on animals for our own selfish desires. And the
contradictions of religion continues.
Kayla
Soliman, United States
Meat
is only second-hand plants. Period.
Bandana
, Kathmandu, Nepal
Plants
without a nervous system feel nothing. You need a nervous system and
a brain.
EarthTongue,
Chesapeake, US
Having
'rights' is entirely a human mental construction. In the real world,
'rights' do not exist. The dictionary definition of nature says
something along the lines of anything of the world not created by
humans. I propose that that definition needs to be re-clarified to
include all elements of the complete symbiotic whole if we are to
realise who we really are, and how much we owe to all things
currently and previously existing. We are not special. We may be
improbable or inevitable, but only religion and our irrational brains
think of ourselves as special and somehow apart from all that
actually (truthfully) created us in the first place,Nature. All
things react to their environment. Humans evolved along with
everything else. Human thoughts and morals, while having evolved with
everything else and indeed in a symbiotic reactive way to the
environment they were brought up in, have actually no basis in the
physical real world. They are fictitious and at times, often
completely irrational. Whether anything feels pain or not is not an
issue. It is only an issue when one starts being irrational and
enters into fictitious moral judgements and 'separate from nature',
'holier than thou', 'special beings' head-spaces (which of course, we
all tend to do). Doesn't make us 'right'... Pain, while uncomfortable
for whatever is experiencing it, is not inherently 'wrong'. It's just
another important evolutionary way of surviving for creatures. There
is no winner. There is no creature that is meant to live, meant to be
extinct, meant to have dominion over all, meant to care, meant to DO
ANYTHING AT ALL. All this said, I humbly and rationally believe that
no thing, living or not, has 'rights' of any kind. There is only
action and reaction with the first action a mere reaction to the
preceding reaction etc. It is a symbiotic environment we live in. An
ever updating, logical and un-biased to any form of life or un-life,
use of the scientific method would be, in my opinion, (which matters
not), the most effective way for us humans to co-exist with these
silly large brains of ours and the entirety of all that is. No
religion. No money. No 'rights'. No moral dilemmas. No government. No
laws but what are actual real (scientific) laws of the universe.
However, I am a silly human, with a silly brain. My opinion, and your
opinion, matter not and matter not absolutely. There is only what is.
Cause and effect. Reaction and reaction and reaction and reaction. In
other words: There is no 'true' answer. Because there is no 'true'
question. Rant over. :-)
Joe
Manton, Hornsby, Australia
The
gentleman who indicated that diamonds are, murdered plants, is right
- the diamond is actually a casket...I wonder if the daffodils formed
a New Orleans jazz band for each diamond and march around it? I
wonder when they would determine the appropriate time to begin the
ceremony? During the diamond formation process or at it's conclusion?
Is it appropriate to send flowers? To whom, where?
Bill
Kolb, Sacramento, US
If
plants do indeed feel pain, then it's still better to be vegan since
you're only causing plants pain. To eat meat, you cause the animals
to feel pain plus all the plants that the animal ate in its lifetime.
Joshua
Matthews, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Plants
suffer a massive hormone and chemical barrage internally when they
suffer any kind of injury, Which is very similar to an animal but it
is so much slower that most think they do not feel anything.
David
, Tampa fl USA
Studies
have shown that organs other than the brain can affect our thinking
processes. Just because plants feel things differently from us
doesn't mean they don't feel at all.
Helen,
Brisbane Australia
Agree
with so many posts…But I feel that ultimately suffering is a
fundamental dilemma for all life, and all living things experience it
in different ways. Scientifically we are still infants, lets not
forget that, so to rule out the possibility of plants registering
pain via other sensory organs because they do not posses a brain or
central nervous system, would be an ignorant statement to make.
Unfortunately, all life is formed and sustained by the matter of
other life forms, whether decomposing or still living. The earth is a
closed system, meaning every living thing is recycled, and everything
consumed by one living thing has come from the decomposition or
sacrifice of another living thing. The other unfortunate thing about
this whole debate is that us humans all have to make up our own
minds, and most will not have that nagging urge to feel utter
compassion at even just the thought of a plant being eaten alive :(
Julia,
Australia
Plants
do not feel pain because they don't have a brain for any signals to
be sent to. Imagine if a human didn't have a brain; they could get
cut, but they wouldn't know and there wouldn't be anything to tell
that they are in pain...so technically they would not be in pain.
Same for plants.
Mae,
Sacramento US
I'm
getting a bit sick of this. I've read half a dozen replies already
and none of them addresses the question. Can somebody please just
tell me whether or not plants feel pain? We've been around for
thousands of years, studying. There are billions of us, experiencing.
Surely one among us can please just offer up a straight answer.
Geoff
walker, Katoomba Australia
Yes,
we are given all living things to eat-both plants and animals. No, we
are not given these things to torture in the process.
Shane,
MN USA
To
all those who are saying religion don't allow us to eat meat I
answer: Jesus ate fish!!!!
Anonymous,
Beirut Lebanon
The
business of poultry farms is a huge one all over the world. Billions
of chicken are fertilized artificially so that they give birth to
other chickens which can then be eaten. But if they were to give
birth naturally, a lot of veg on which they feed would be left,
enough to feed the entire world. It is the non veg eaters who are
indirectly the cause of world hunger. Please refer to the website
goveg.com for more information.
Avijit
Sawroop, Lucknow India
Plants
don't feel pain would be my response. There has been no study that I
know of that shows plants suffer pain. There has been lots of
research on that they touch, can understand light rays, that they
react to minerals in the soil and the roots tend to grow towards more
mineralised soil. But there is no evidence that they would suffer
from pain. People suffer from pain because they intellectualize the
pain. As in there brain and nervous system works out they are in pain
and this is how you become aware of pain and are conscious of pain,
without consciousness you can not suffer from pain, you can't say
pain is in my leg or if you was a animal make noises and lie in mud
or whatever to stop the pain. Plus Vegetables and Plants lack a
nervous system, so even if they were somehow conscious, there would
be no afferent neurons to carry pain messages. At this point in time
science shows no evidence that plants suffer from pain. There is some
evidence they react to being cut, but this is a basic stimulus
response that is similar to how they react to sun light. It's not
painful for them, it's just like a mobile phone that flashed low
battery. I believe this is a poke at vegetarians and vegans who eat
plants. This aims to put them off going vegetarian because all life
feels pain so you can't avoid hurting life. However this is a naive
point as the point is we don't need to eat animals that we KNOW feel
pain at a lot higher level emotionally and physically than plants.
Second we don't need to eat animals but we do plants, Or at least I
have seen no evidence to show we can have optimum health on a fruit,
seed and nut diet alone. Where as we can on a plant based diet which
means we don't need to harm animals to live and since they feel high
amounts of emotional pain it would be silly to ignore this. However
there is lots of studies that show eating meat, dairy and eggs is
unhealthy. There is lots of evidence that shows a lot of factory
farms cause deceases and deforestation. The point is you don't need
to eat animals or animal products to live, but you do need to have a
plant based diet. Nutritionfacts.org shows many health studies based
on clinical studies done on people. In addition, fruit doesn't feel
pain and you can eat plenty of that if eating plants is problem for
you. Even though plants probable don't feel pain and most defiantly
don't suffer from pain signals. This would just be as healthy as
eating a meat based diet so there is no reason to eat meat. There is
no ethical reason to eat meat. Ethically it is wrong to eat meat. But
that never stopped people before.
Stephen
Kelly, Oakworth, England
The
simplest piece of evidence that plants don't feel pain is their
evolution. Animals feel pain because it gives them sense of what's
dangerous and when they should run. Plants on the other hand can't
move, can fight back physically and would have no evolutionary reason
to feel pain. Furthermore some plants actually rely on being eaten to
spread their seeds.
John
Renszi, Sacremento, United States
Those
of you saying plants have no reason to feel pain evolutionarily
because they can't run away are overlooking the important fact that
plants do respond rapidly to being injured or threatened, albeit in
way that are usually difficult for us to detect. As soon as injury
occurs, chemicals are released that "warn" other nearby
plants to bolster their defenses (this is especially useful if the
assailant is an insect or other small pest -- some plants even
release chemicals that attract other insects that eat the attackers!)
Plants react to tactile sensations in general -- gently stroking a
stem each day will cause it to grow thicker (probably because it is
responding to what it thinks is heavy wind.) So while I'm not sure it
means they can feel pain per se, plants definitely have good reason
to detect and react to physical "sensation" including
injury -- and they do.
AJ,
US
DALLAS--Research
scientists at Baylor Medical Center have proven that plants,
including vegetables, feel pain when subjected to trauma such as
being yanked out of the ground, peeled, cooked, and eaten. "Veggies
and plants initiate a massive hormone and chemical barrage internally
when they suffer any kind of injury," says professor Barry
Lindzer. "This response is akin to the nerve response and
endorphin release when an animal is injured. We cannot ignore the
similarities."
Jose,
Boca Raton USA
"There
are no neurons in plants, but there is a communication network that
we don't fully understand." - William John Lucas, professor of
plant biology at UC-Davis. No neurons probably means no pain, at
least not the way humans perceive it. If you try googling Professor
Barry Lindzer and the Baylor Medical Center, it seems there might not
be a Barry Lindzer at the Baylor Medical Center. Hmm. As many have
pointed out, the ability to suffer pain and not be able to evade the
source of that pain is not the kind of mistake Mother Nature would
make.
Mike
, Toronto Canada
How
about you just eat what feels right to you.
Hans,
Sonoma U.S.A.
Though
I believe plants to experience 'something' when they have parts
severed from them, but it is impossible to live without consuming
some form of sustenance. Whether animal or vegetable, humans must
consume something to survive. Any rights that any living thing may or
may not have is revoked upon the death of said living thing.
Prof.
Rockhill, Grifton United States
Try
your best to inflict as little harm as possible to all living things.
However we must also understand that for the sake of survival, it is
inevitable that we will need to hurt/harm certain living things. The
goal should be striving to minimise the harm we bring upon other
living things. Do not bring unnecessary harm to others while we fight
to survive. With religions put aside, the first and most important
goal in life is to survive, this is a universal goal that applies to
all living things. All living things (man,animals,plants,
micro-organism, fungi, ......), we all live in the same planet, the
main goal is to survive. For the survival of one living thing, it is
inevitable that some harm will done on others. All that we can do is
to minimise our harm on other living things in our pursuit of
survival. If living things are not allowed to inflict harm on other
living things, then most or all living things should not be living on
this Earth. We are all part of the billions of living things that
strive to survive on this Earth. We are just a part of the whole
system, there is actually no right or wrong, it is just a matter of
decision, what you think/feel is right, what do you think is best for
you, your kind or your world. There is no right or wrong, all we can
do is try to get as close as possible to the perfect answer which we
can never know. There may not even be an answer to anything. Just a
piece of mind from an individual who have yet to find and may never
find the answer.
Mrs
Universal, Chaozhou China
Technically
speaking, the cells of the entire plant have chemicals synonymous
with a brain, furthermore, one can trace the electrical impulses
within a given plant and learn that there are, at the very least,
basic emotional instances. Plants can be conditioned to lower
defensive mechanisms like spines, to grow a certain way, and display
an evolutionary ingenuity that may be beyond even our comprehension.
From a purely scientific standpoint, our long disrespected ancestors
are geniuses and to say they don't think is to ignore the extent they
go to form symbiotic(and parasitic) relationships and the subtle
mourning responses to the deaths of caretakers and neighboring
plants. HOWEVER, vegetables, grains, and nuts are too small to be
sufficiently intelligent to suffer enough for it to be called
inhumane. I believe that they should be given the same level of
respect as their animal counterparts. Give a dandelion the respect
you'd give an invasive rodent, and crops the same respect as
livestock. Even if the activists are wrong and plants don't feel, we
should leave nothing to chance. Even if the research is false and
that tree in your back yard IS just be a hunk of cells, leave nothing
to chance, because for all we know they're sentient beings that
desire positive social interactions.
Rayblon,
Naperville USA
Yes,
because tests have been made and it has been proven that as soon as a
plant is harvested it hurts the plant and the plant begins to wither.
tom
, birmingham uk
After
years of struggling with the decision and one or two failed attempts,
this year I finally committed to becoming a vegetarian. Not a full
vegan because there are so many products that use animal by-products,
it seems virtually impossible to avoid them all and still have any
type of existence other than the stereotypical "hippie"
label would suggest. But my changeover has been a transitional one.
No chicken, beef or pork...that was easy, but now I am thinking I
need to eliminate fish and shrimp as well. Cheese has been a struggle
since most cheeses use an enzyme made from the stomach lining of
slaughtered calves, so I am still searching for a veggie cheese I can
consistently find in the area where I live. Plants feeling pain is
such a gray area that I have to side with people who say "if you
rule out meat AND veggies...that only leaves fruit because it is
given to us by Nature herself without the need for harvesting."
However, I am a diabetic, so a fruit only diet is out of the
question...even natural sugars are too much sugar in my case. So I
struggle to find a balance between nutritional requirements vs.
ethical considerations vs. culinary desires, but I'm working on it
and hopefully making good choices. As for the "GOD"
argument that so many people use to defend killing animals and eating
meat, there is no scientific data to back up that GOD even exists, so
that argument is a moot point and has no place in this debate. I'm
not an atheist or an agnostic, but there are MANY things that I don't
agree with GOD about, so don't try to sell me with any GOD rhetoric
because it has no substance or fact base to it. GOD also gave us the
choice to be murderers and child molestors...he says it's wrong, but
he still gave us the power of free will to engage in those types of
behaviors, so does that justify them? Personally, I would say
no...but then again, I'm not a hater like some of the God-ites I've
met from time to time. I'm a student of science and history and God
and his demented minions here on earth have wreaked more havoc on the
world than any other belief system out there, so let's just drop the
"God gave us choices" arguments altogether and just focus
on the facts and the ethical considerations.
Phil,
Jackson USA
Others
have talked about eating seed that has fallen naturally from the
plant. They believe that by doing so they ain't killing or causing
pain to anything. They have forgotten that the fruit contain seeds
that are living and meant to reproduce..... and they cause so much
pain to these seeds by crushing them
Stanford
Muyila, Lilongwe Malawi
Well,
we cant say that they dont feel any pain cause as any other cell they
consist of nucleous i.e. also known as the brain of the cell. And if
we take an example of amoeba we can definitely prove that its a
single cell organism and carries out every process of a human body
from locomotion to the process of eating food so it is pretty much
possible that every cell wether a plant cell or animal or any single
cell organisms feel pain. Not sure about viruses cause they have very
less biological parts of their own.
anshuman,
delhi india
There
is no need for proof or a study. Use your logic, plants feel pain
because they are alive in order for them to bring new life to this
world.Can a dead human bring a baby to life? No. Why when a vegetable
is wounded does it start to decompose? When you kill an animal or a
human same thing happens,decomposition. To live means something has
to die as it is the law of nature. The point is to respect and treat
with care anything that serves your survival in order for you to
exist whatever that might be but the most basic of all is to be
always balanced because healthy or not if you eat only one thing
without variety(even organic vegetables etc) problems will occur if
you over do it. Psychology is also another part of our health. Enough
said ;)
Bamagiotis,
Athens Greece
I
am just wondering if it is more cruel to eat something that doesn't
have the means to show pain? Then again, if we don't eat plants, what
else can we consume to ensure our survival? Eating in abundance is
what many are doing now. Worse, they kill animals and waste the meat
later. It's cruel to eat animals. I believe plants have their own
life too. Anything that has a life surely has a means to feel. Maybe
we haven't realize the science and system behind this new
perspective, but I think we are facing great dilemma about plants. No
meat, no veg, guess the only thing left to consume is air. Sharing
some thoughts here. Cheers…
Karen
Fu, Singapore
First
of all, please get your facts right. Saying that plants feel pain is
still being debated, but I will give you the benefit of doubt. But to
say that Vegetables and Fruits are eaten alive, is really stupid. It
is like saying that the Barber killed my hair while it was still
alive. Firstly, fruits and vegetables are the waste treatment system
of plants and trees. So to say that they are "alive" is
pushing it too much.
K
Bharani Nath, Bangalore India
No,
plants cannot feel pain. There is no possible way for that to happen
without a central nervous system.
Yuri
Potekhin, St. Petersburg, Russia
Although
I regard the argument that plants feel pain as being little more than
wishful thinking on the part of meat-eaters, even if it was true
people forget that because of all the plants fed to livestock
meat-eaters cause more plants to be destroyed than vegetarians. In
his book "Animal Liberation" Peter Singer claims that meat
eaters are indirectly responsible for destroying 10 times as many
plants as vegetarians.
eric
bahrt, pattaya thAILAND
Well
while I'm glad everyone here is an exact expert on all forms of life,
I would have to ask people to consider, plants can respond to touch,
there are carnivorous plants, does this go to prove that perhaps
communication can exist within a plant on a chemical level, even
without an "electrical CNS". Who's to say they have no
concept of pain on a chemical level, have there been any studies into
the chemical responses of plants to damage? They certainly have one.
Stormageddom,
Cincinati USA
It
is not about whether they actually feel pain or not. If I, as a human
being, had a neurosystem disorder that would make me feel no pain at
all, would it be all right to peel off my skin while I was alive?
Like we do with potatoes. Of course not! So it is not an excuse to
abuse vegetables just because they do not feel pain. They are all
alive just like the rest of us. And if we approach it from the
atheist way, plants and animals have the same amount of soul like us
- zero. Or if we are Buddhists, we can assume that they too, have a
soul. On the other hand, plants themselves consume other plants and
animals too. Animals consume plants and other animals, and sometimes
even people. It is the permanent law of nature and it is above any
religion or ethics or made up stuff. Eat what your body desires, that
is how it is meant to be.
Levente
Bolyos, Budapest, Hungary
If
eating animals is OK then you should not cry when someone eats your
babies. God did not give plants to run away to protect themselves.
This means plants are basically for eating. Most of the plant based
food do not need killing the plant, only cut some part of it. The
tree again grow similar parts. Also the intestine of carnivorous is
very small compared to herbivorous (similar to humans). How come man
is made to eat both the things?
santosh,
mumbai india
Keep
eating meat, my friends. However, I'm a vegetarian and haven't been
sick in 5 years. Prior to that, I was sick all the time. A
connection? Definitely, because it's the only thing I changed. ;)
R,
winter haven USA
Yes
they feel pain, but humans cannot relate.
Judy
Lakkis, Thousand Oaks, US
Hello
all. My two cents on this topic is - Not if Plants feel pain or not.
That whole idea has to do with what we personally feel. Plants are
simply a living organism - that I'm sure we can all agree on. And if
a plant is torn or ripped from its source of life then it is being
killed. Life No More. I say, ok eat vegetables but don't lie about
not having eaten and killed in the process, something once living.
This is coming from a vegeterian. And I admit I eat living things
called plants. I have thought this through for myself and have come
to that conclusion. Who or anyone of us decides what is or isn't
edible in regards to life as we know it. Thats pretentious BS. When
the fact is that all living things as we know life to be - feed on
other living things. From the smallest microbe to the largest animal,
plant etc. The "pain" thing has to do more with our
relation or not to life around us. Ask Native Americans - they honor
what they kill and feel no guilt because they understand this. That's
all ill say - be Easy, Peace, Love and Hairgreese!!
Pancho
Diggz, New York City USA
I
am a vegetarian, I eat plants for something has to be eaten. I am
sure, that plants feel pain, why should they not feel pain? They feel
the sunlight, wind, they feel when they are touched (and react -
mimose), even the seed knows where to grow, where the sunlight is,
plants knows the long of the daylight, the season etc. So why pain
should not be felt. Of course (still) we have to kill plants for
eating, but we should kill and cause pain, suffering only as much as
necesary, not for pleasure. It is suffering for a plant to be kept as
a bonsai, it is very painful for a tree or the grass to be cut. If we
have to do this, than it should not be done with damil, what makes
big wounds, it's better to use sharp blades. Another cruel thing is,
when after one's collecting the fruits of the plant (peas, beanes),
we kill the still living plant and put it out from the soil, not
waiting for it to die a natural death. (And it would bloom and give
its fruits several more times). We should think of plant as living
beings, that feel pain and discomfort and act according to this.
Chana
Abraham, Tel Aviv Israel
”
I
regard and appreciate every one of the individuals who secure
creatures and challenge creature pitilessness. I additionally bolster
and have volunteered my opportunity with Physicians for Social
Responsibility in Bethesda, MD. This association effectively crusaded
to stop pointless creature experimentation in therapeutic research.
They additionally helped stop absurd creature testing by makers
required by the FDA and other government controllers.
One
of the most exceedingly terrible violations against creatures that I
am aware of happened while I was in medicinal preparing at the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. One of my professors– a
notable neurosurgeon named Dr. Thomas Langfitt– performed terrible
cerebrum surgery investigates primates. What's more, the monkeys in
his care were kept in obtuse and careless conditions.
Both
the school daily paper and the Philadelphia Inquirer secured the
outrage. In the long run, the University tidied up the wreckage. Be
that as it may, incredibly, Dr. Langfitt still went ahead to a senior
position at the University.
I
need to state Dr. Langfitt was exceptionally kind and circumspect
with medicinal understudies around then. Be that as it may, his
polite conduct to understudies not the slightest bit ought to have
pardoned his wrongdoings against the primates in his care. I, for
one, always remembered about those violations.
In
this way, envision my stun 20 years after the fact when he was chosen
as volunteer seat of the board at the College of Physicians of
Philadelphia, which has numerous individual and expert ties with the
University of Pennsylvania. Obviously, I was the Director of the
College at the time. What's more, had been there for a long time.
In
only seven years, I had adjusted the financial backing, raised a
large number of dollars of subsidizing, reestablished the notable
library and national point of interest constructing, and expanded our
support of the general population 20 times over.
All
of a sudden, Dr. Langfitt came in like a bull in a China shop, or
maybe more like an overbearing Chinese Emperor. Or, then again
significantly more suitably for this situation, similar to a
800-pound gorilla. He unexpectedly and unaccountably annulled, drop,
and switched all that we had finished to seek after some
half-positioned individual vision of a having a "virtual"
establishment on the web.
This
was exactly at the season of the web bust of the mid 2000s. No one
could make sense of it, in particular me. However, no one out of a
place of impact dissented either.
I
cleared out the College in nauseate to coordinate the Center for
Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital down the
road in Philadelphia.
At
that point only a couple of years after the fact, while serving on
the Medical Alumni Executive Committee at Penn, I discovered that
Langfitt had passed on of a secretive disease (in any event for the
twentieth century) called "miliary tuberculosis." I
additionally took in the College of Physicians was presently basing
their whole, recently battling advancement crusade on raising assets
to respect his memory.
Despite
the fact that Langfitt had been related with Penn for over a
quarter-century– and we at Penn were amidst a $4 billion capital
campaign– none of us thought of utilizing his name in any capacity.
Maybe we had quicker recollections and sensibilities than the
individuals who had assumed control at the College of Physicians.
All
things considered, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) all immediately learned of Langfitt's demise and the College's
intend to respect his memory.
For
reasons unknown Dr. Langfitt, even after death, still possessed a
conspicuous position on PETA's "Ten Most Wanted List" for
mercilessness to creatures. Obviously, PETA determinedly challenged
(as no one but they can do) the College's not well considered raising
money remembrance exercises and conveyed some measure of
much-postponed equity. It was PETA, as well as the "Ruler of the
College" who ended up having no garments.
This
is to state, I drop by my anxiety for the welfare of natural life and
creatures genuinely and never left a decent quarrel over that theme.
All
things considered, as a nutritious researcher, I comprehend that
organically, people are omnivores. We require both plant and creature
items for appropriate sustenance. More than a great many years,
people have tamed creatures for wellsprings of friendship, apparel,
drain and dairy foods– and yes– meat.
In
any case, subsistence ought to never require cold-bloodedness.
Furthermore, most indigenous people groups and conventional
agriculturists who live near the land comprehend and regard this
rule.
Obviously,
I comprehend and regard the moral decisions that lead a few people to
rehearse a veggie lover or vegetarian eat less. In any case, they
ought not be persuaded they are doing it for wellbeing reasons. As I
revealed a year ago in my Insiders' Cures pamphlet, analysts connect
entirely plant-based weight control plans with high rates of
healthful lacks and inadequacies.
At
the end of the day, veggie lover eats less carbs simply aren't as
solid or supporting.
Notwithstanding
the healthful contemplations, it shows up we have moral issues to
consider when eating plants. Truth be told, as indicated by new,
interesting examination, plants really know when they are being
eaten. Also, it appears they don't care for it.
Maybe
plants have their own sort of knowledge and capacities to impart, as
M. Night Shyamalan frightfully performed in his 2008 motion picture
called "The Happening." Curiously, the film is situated in
Philadelphia.
This
new examination leaves the University of Missouri. Analysts
discovered plants can detect when they are being eaten. Furthermore,
they convey guarded components to endeavor to stop it. For this
investigation, specialists utilized thale cress, which is firmly
identified with broccoli, kale, mustard greens, and different
individuals from the brassica family. These are altogether
cruciferous or verdant green vegetables.
The
Missouri researchers found that thale cress delivers somewhat
poisonous mustard oils when a caterpillar starts to eat it.
Obviously,
the caterpillars that eat these plants transform into butterflies.
Also, people drastically decrease their danger of creating tumor and
other endless infections by eating these sorts of vegetables. To be
sure, look into over the previous century reliably demonstrates
eating cruciferous and green, verdant vegetables secures against
disease.
All
things considered, the information that plants create protective
chemicals is just the same old thing new.
In
fact, we know plants deliver numerous naturally dynamic
phytochemicals to ensure themselves against organisms, bugs and
creatures. The phytochemicals ensure them against predators and
enable them to contend with different plants for soil and living
space.
So–
in case you're a veggie lover or vegan for moral reasons, it shows up
you may need to reconsider your position. Turns out plants have
sentiments as well.
Be
that as it may, don't think too hard on it. On the off chance that
you need to carry on with a long, dynamic, solid life, you have to
take after an eating routine that incorporates the two plants and
creatures.
All
the better we can do is to treat all plant and creature life in
Nature with due regard and thought as we as a whole advance on life's
trip.
