Plants are alive — and they want to stay that way — so it may not be any more ethical to eat them than it is to eat meat. At least, that’s what I’ve argued before.
But maybe my argument didn’t convince you. Maybe you thought to yourself, “Heck, plants are alive, sure, but they don’t really feel. They don’t really think. They aren’t conscious or anything!”
Well, you’re right — so far as I know, nothing like a triffid exists on Earth (and if it did, you’d be morally obligated to kill it and eat it, murdering plant that it is).
But an intriguing survey of the available science by Olivia Judson suggests that plants do have a potent form of memory:
Previously attacked plants respond to new leaf damage more quickly. And plants that have been attacked twice are faster to respond than plants that have only been damaged once. Somehow, they remember.
The physical basis of plant memory is still being figured out. (Needless to say, it isn’t conscious memory: the trees outside your window aren’t standing there reminiscing to themselves about the great caterpillar plague of 2009.) But by now it’s clear that wild tobacco is not the only plant with the capacity for memory, nor is caterpillar attack the only stress that produces such an effect. Drought, cold and altered salt levels in the soil all do so; likewise, exposure to hostile fungi or bacteria.
If plants remember — can they also forget?
As Judson points out, helping a plant “forget” a recent drought, or priming it to be prepared for an insect pest, could have huge implications in agriculture. She also implies a comparison to the “memory” that your immune system has for infections it has already fought off.
But the lessons here are clear. If you’re a vegetarian — and I support your choice, though I don’t choose it for myself — you should make sure that you finish your plate of vegetables. No one cuts a steak off a cow, then leaves it to heal before cutting off the next steak, so why should it be any different with a plant?
After all, plants remember. And if they remember, then the next time you go looking for your rutabaga or your celery — well, maybe it’ll be waiting for you …. ready for you … lurking in your garden ….
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6 comments
Trent says:
30 December 2009 at 6:38 pm (UTC -5)
I support the personal choice of vegetarianism if it’s not the high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou attitude of “eating meat is cruelty to animals.” The same goes for environmental activism. Whoever wants to make people feel bad because they don’t practise the same things can take a back seat.
Grant Hamilton says:
31 December 2009 at 10:58 am (UTC -5)
The big difference that I see is that vegetarianism is pretty much the definition of a personal choice, while environmentalism (again, by definition) affects everyone else. So I can put up with a heck of a lot more preaching about the environment than I can about vegetarianism.
That said, I completely agree that a holier-than-thou attitude doesn’t sell me on anything.
Also, I kind of dislike it when people try to turn vegetarian/vegan diets into an environmental thing, too.
Colin says:
31 December 2009 at 12:16 pm (UTC -5)
Although that is logically defensible, given that factory farmings impact and the many resources needed to produce meat for a huge population are enormous.
Grant Hamilton says:
31 December 2009 at 1:11 pm (UTC -5)
Factory farming is bad for the environment whether it’s crops or cattle you’re talking about. But when you consider that some animals (think goats and even bison) can graze on land that is unsuitable for raising crops, it’s not always an either/or proposition. Also, I can buy locally-produced meat. But I can’t buy locally-produced oranges — and who knows how bad it was for the environment to ship them up here in a refrigerated cargo container.
(yes, I’m picking and choosing to make my point)
Colin says:
31 December 2009 at 3:29 pm (UTC -5)
Good point on the oranges, but we’re talking about feeding people on a massive scale - millions or hundreds of millions. That’s why factory farming came about in the first place. And it’s on that scale that I base my comment.
Hey, I’m an omnivore myself, but find that the amount of meat I’m eating is on the decline.
killa muncee says:
12 January 2010 at 7:51 am (UTC -5)
meat IS murder! tasty tasty murder!!!!