Back To Nature
I’ve been wondering about this for a while. How do vegans live with themselves, when the very sprouts between their teeth scream? NYT op-ed:
But before we cede the entire moral penthouse to “committed vegetarians” and “strong ethical vegans,” we might consider that plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot. This is not meant as a trite argument or a chuckled aside. Plants are lively and seek to keep it that way. The more that scientists learn about the complexity of plants — their keen sensitivity to the environment, the speed with which they react to changes in the environment, and the extraordinary number of tricks that plants will rally to fight off attackers and solicit help from afar — the more impressed researchers become, and the less easily we can dismiss plants as so much fiberfill backdrop, passive sunlight collectors on which deer, antelope and vegans can conveniently graze. It’s time for a green revolution, a reseeding of our stubborn animal minds.
The scribbler goes on to describe all kinds of evidence for plant sensation, defensive tactics that suggest a vegetative will to live. But she fails to address the question at hand. Where’s the green revolution go, and what’s a life-respecting vegan to do?
Dunno. I’m a traditionalist. I’ll eat almost anything. Don’t care if it once had a face. Kill it myself on occasion, mainly after wresting it out from under rocks at the bottom of the ocean. But I draw the line at vegans. All that self-righteousness gives them a bit of an off flavor …
Ha ha, just kidding. I’m sure they taste just fine. I’ve always viewed them with a sort of live-and-let-live, more meat for the rest of us attitude. Anyway, now that it turns out they are just a bunch of heartless killers like the rest of us, I’d suggest a back-to-nature track for people who feel a need to remain philopsohpically pure. Caveman diet. Scorched meat, freshly killed. Preferably by yourself or a family member, with a pointed stick. Carrion when necessary. Waste not, starve not. Assorted nuts, berries, greens and grains. Local, seasonal, of course. Speaking of which, you may want to consider going nomadic.
For those who just think it’s too gross to eat living, sentient things, can’t help you. I’d suggest killing two birds … sorry, poor analogy … make that a two-fer. Take yourself out of the food chain and reduce your carbon footprint to zero at the same time! Show that you really care.
It’s either that or … celebrate life! It tastes great!
Fausta reports that in her case, eating meat is a matter of life and death. Hers is a particular situation but hey, I kinda feel like that, too, about meat and our vegie friends. If I don’t eat them, I die. Look, I respect all the trapezoids in the food pyramid, as well as the triangle on top. I just like to make sure my red meat levels don’t get too low.
Joyner, who takes a “them or me” attitude, imagines his steak “practically begging to be lightly seasoned and seared on a grill or an iron skillet. Preferably with a baked sweet potato and maybe some spinach. And a nice red wine, of course.” Hey, you know how much yeast had to die to make that plonk?
Like to hear from some vegans on what their plans are. Noticed some indignant denialism in NYT comments:
This article by Natalie Angier is utterly absurd. To compare plants’ suffering to animals’ suffering is nonsense. I suggest Angier goes to visit a vegetable garden and a slaughterhouse. One is peacefully pleasant, often green and inviting; the other is a bloody mess with frightened beings, pleading eyes and cries for mercy. No, vegetables have no face! This article does not make sense, is so farfetched and “frise le ridicule”.
Also, some rank anti-plantist incitement to violence:
Jainism, an Indian religion, advocates ahimsa or non-violence to all things but recognizes that violence is necessary to live. All we can do is to minimize our violence. Jains believe that the more senses a living thing has, the more pain it experiences and the more violence we cause when we kill it. So, to minimize violence, they say, to live, kill those things that have the fewest senses. ie. Kill the potato, but spare the pig.
First, they came for the tubers, but I wasn’t a tuber, and I said nothing …
As usual, there’s a Rodney King in the bunch:
Why can’t meat eaters and non-meat eaters just get along? Each side presenting their case in a self-righteous manner just prevents open dialogue and encourages people to close their minds before they’ve fully opened them.
Hey, I hadn’t thought of this:
All ethics and eating habits aside – your argument backfires in the most obvious and primal way. A great, great, many of the EDIBLE plants are EDIBLE because they want to be!!! Berries are bright red so animals will find and eat them and spread their seeds through feces. Many nuts will only take once cracked by an animal (or the ground). Grasses and other plants rely on herds to eat them, depositing “dung” on the ground to restock the soil with nutrients.
The list goes on and on.
Plants need us. We need plants. A love story
Yes. I love to eat. But this might be the best:
I believe that it was Joseph Campbell who said that “a vegetarian is one who only kills those who cannot run away.”
Cheap shot!
Topics: everything
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 3:43 pm Comments (7) on Tuesday, December 22, 2009
7 Responses to “Back To Nature”
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December 22nd, 2009 at 4:46 pm
[...] Jules is on the same wavelength: For those who just think it’s gross to eat living, sentient things, [...]
December 22nd, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Carrot Juice is Murder
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Is booze ok?
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 pm
While we are at it, the young Kennedy is at it again
“This is arguably the best solar land in the world, and Senator Feinstein shouldn’t be allowed to take this land off the table without a proper and scientific environmental review,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist and a partner with a venture capital firm that invested in a solar developer called BrightSource Energy. In September, BrightSource canceled a large project in the monument area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/business/energy-environment/22solar.html
So what is the difference between Nantucket Sound and the Mojave Dessert?
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:56 am
[...] The Next Moral Step December 23, 2009 Posted by taoist in Lunacy. Tags: Environmentalism trackback For greenies and vegans: Stop eating plants. [...]
December 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
[...] On the other hand, Jules Crittenden: “Dunno. I’m a traditionalist. I’ll eat almost anything. Don’t care if it once had a [...]
December 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Being a vegetarian is quite sustainable, especially when one prefers pre-processing by a ruminant.
Cheers