Dear Vegetarians, Don't you consider plants to be living things as well?!

Well yea, I "consider" plants to be living. That's not an opinion, its a fact.
That is not relevant to vegetarians though. Vegetarians are against animal cruelty...
are you suggesting ppl should be against plant cruelty? That is just sillyness. Im sure you can see the difference.

This question is so old, it can practically be carbon-dated

The joke answer is that I'm not a vegan because I love animals; I'm a vegan because I hate plants.

The serious answer is that while plants are living beings, they do not suffer the way an animal does when you mutilate him (sans anesthesia, I may add), confine him, and then KILL him. I have yet to see a plant interact with its "parents" or "offspring" the way animals interact with other animals. They very nature of plants--spreading seeds far and wide--prevents any "interaction" of the sort you might see between animals--and almost everyone has seen how animals interact with each other and with other species.

And one thing many carnists who ask this boneheaded question forget is that the animals they consume eat plants, DUH. And it takes several pounds of plant food to produce a pound of animal food. So you're killing even more plants than a vegan. And I don't believe you care for a second about the plants. If you did, you would know that a cow feels pain but a carrot does not.

First off, I am an omnivore by my nature and my practice, but I can and do respect vegetarians for their choice to be vegetarians.
Yes, plants are alive and are used for consumption. What is your point here? Are you suggesting that people should not eat any plants? That is not a viable option. While it is possible to survive and be healthy without eating any animals or animal products it is not possible to survive and be healthy without eating any plants or plant products. That is just a fact of human life. Accept it.

Of course plants are living. However, the real question is "can they feel pain" or "are they sentient".

The answer to both of the above (as far as modern science has concluded) is "no". While I still feel that plant foods should be grown and harvested with respect to the earth in mind, it is not heartbreaking in the slightest if a leaf is broken... did the plant feel "pain"? No.

Beyond that, the vast majority of plants that we consume have evolved directly to BE consumed. How else beyond their fruits being eaten and their seeds being spread by the eater's waste would apple trees proliferate? If their apples dropped to the ground and just sat there, the number of seedlings would crowd the original tree, and eventually cause the death of the trees themselves. However, when those same seeds are eaten and distributed elsewhere, the plant's species continues.

It is not merely a question of what has life and who can feel pain. It is more a question of the degree of development the life-form has attained. For instance, we may extend your logic: you eat animals bcos and animals are living things. Humans are living things too, would it make sense to eat humans too?

Or, you eat beef, fish, pork and chicken. Why don't you eat cats and dogs, as they are animals too?

Plants certainly have life, but they cannot enjoy life the way animals and humans can.

Yes, I do consider plants to be living things. But killing an apple to eat it is a lot different than slaughtering a cow to eat it. And besides, if you're really concerned about plants you would go vegan because most of the plants that are grown are fed to livestock, and you actually do more damage to the earth by eating both.

Plants are the basic food source for every animal (including humans) on earth. We humans have a choice; eat plants, or eat animals that have already eaten the plants.
Either way, the plants are going to be eaten. Why no spare the animals' lives and just eat the plants like they are?
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.".

Plants do not have a central nervous system. If you're still not convinced, just go to the plant slaughterhouse to hear the screams and crying as they're murdered in front of their family. LOL

Reply: Hi Sarah, you got some excellent answers here. I agree that plants, fruits, and vegetables are alive (to an extent) and I do enjoy them.

Vegan

Last I checked, plants weren't made of meat.

Unless you're a serial killer and cannibal, as an omnivore you must recognise that the value of human life is "higher" than the value of animal life. Similarly, "growing" does not directly equate to sentient life.

Lol no, they don't have brains.


Edit: Sure, they may be living...but since they have no brain, they feel no pain nor do they even have a conscious. It's on a totally different playing field than animals, the two are in no way related.

Vegan

Thought experiment:

Do you see an ethical difference between stabbing your dog versus a potato?


If so, you can understand ethical veg(etari)anism.

The fact that plants are living is morally irrelevant. The reason it's wrong to kill humans and non-human animals is because they are sentient beings, not because they're living things.

Living and sentient are two very different things. You seem to think vegetarians eat no LIVING things, as opposed to reality - we eat no SENTIENT things.

i have nothing against eating something that was alive but i do have something against eating something that feels pain.

they don't have feelings necessarily. & don't go saying they do, cuz it's just bs.

yes plants don't scream and cry as they die but if you left them alone they would fall off and die anyway

To answer your question directly, yes, I do. I have toyed with the idea of becoming a fruitarian, but at this point in my life that is not a challenge I am willing to tackle. Maybe when I have the space to grow more of my own food, the time to commit to preparing meals, and a more thorough understanding of human nutrition I'll attempt it, but as of right now I am not.

More generally, veg*ns follow the philosophy that all animals deserve the right to a happy, pain free life. They believe that they have emotions, awareness, souls--whatever you want to call it. Veg*ns therefore refuse to consume animals (or animal byproducts.)

So none of that veg*n philosophy really applies to plants. They pretty much look at plants the way most omnivores look at animals, and feel that it is perfectly a-okay to consume them without a second thought. There are, however, a few groups that do apply that way of thinking to plant life.

If you've ever seen the movie Notting Hill, you may have heard the term "fruitarian." In the movie, a fruitarian is portrayed as someone who believes plants have feelings, and so only eats what falls to the ground naturally. While most fruitarians actually follow the diet for health reasons, this is sort of close to the philosophy of those who go about it morally.

Rather than just standing around fruit trees, though, fruitarians eat any food that would botanically be considered a fruit--any food that contains seeds. The reasoning behind this is that plants store their seeds in tasty morsels, hoping that animals will spread them (mainly via their scat.) It therefore doesn't harm the plant to eat its fruit.

While eating just fruit doesn't seem like the best diet, you have to consider the difference between botanical fruit and culinary fruit. It's not just apples and bananas. Anything that is a seed or contains a seed may be eaten, so there actually is a wide enough variety to meet ones nutritional needs. However, one should not seek to become a fruitarian without an extensive knowledge of human nutrition.

Besides fruitarians, there are also several religious groups, mainly in India, that avoid doing violence to the world around them. The term for this practice is Ahimsa, and it is carried out differently by different religions. Most followers of Ahimsa become vegetarians, vegans, or even fruitarians, but the Jains take Ahimsa one step further. Some consider the Jain approach to non-violence to be radical, but it is fundamental to their religious beliefs. I'm not an expert, but I do know they extend an entire branch of philosophy to non-violence towards plant life.

thats a good question personally im not a vegan but in my pants when i ask if someone wants hairy bratwursts with two hairy eggs they might reply back that they are vegan in which i respond i also serve thick cucumber with two fuzzy tomatoes with a ceaser sauce glaze

FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO HAS FEELINGS FOR PLANTS!!!!!

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