Some people chose to eat a plant-based diet (vegan and raw foods) instead of an animal based diet because of ecological reasons. This sort of diet can be appreciated because it has less impact on the Earth’s environment when compared to animal consumption.
There’s a Law of Reciprocity that applies here. When you remove a plant from the ground there are many seeds that can be replanted into the Earth’s soil. However, when you kill an animal it becomes more difficult to replace what has been lost.
Some people argue that if we fed the same supply of grain and soy supply to the poor and starving people of the world that we feed to livestock then we could resolve starvation.
We all have to eat something, but it is a question of harm. The goal is to inflict the least amount of harm in hopes of getting to no harm at all. We must aim for progress and not stagnation or devolution and clearly eating plants and fruits are progression and evolving whereas eating meat is regression and devolution.
Compassion, intelligence, and homeostasis are going to win in the long run.
Plants and Consciousness
The consciousness of plants is evidenced in a great many works, such as “The Secret Life of Plants” by Michael Tierra. But we err when we equate consciousness with pain.
Clearly, plants are conscious but they do not feel pain (as they are not sentient beings). Even if the argument becomes “do the least harm,” why would a person not want to do the least amount of harm and the least amount of damage?
Eating plants reverses the harm of eating meat and the more plants we eat, the more conscious we become.
The law of Earth is growth. Remove (pick) a flower and it returns. Pick an apple and it returns! Kill a cow and that’s it. It’s dead and gone forever!
“To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana.” – Buddha
Plants and Intelligence
Botanists have proven that plants show levels of intelligence. They are capable of problem solving. Plants adapt to environmental conditions, changing the way the bloom, the frequency with which they bloom.
Plants search for nutrients. They position leaves in ways to best capture sunlight. They can detect depth of soil and adjust root structure growth patterns to accommodate.
Do plants exhibit intelligence in the same way as humans and other animals? No, they don’t. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to display intelligence.
In the end, and considering all the facts and circumstances, Dherbs.com believes that vegans and raw foodists are not causing plants pain by eating them.
Thank you for reading!
