Sunday 3 February 2013

Vegetable Rights.

After yesterdays post I have come to a decision about becoming a vegetarian. It seems to me that we do not know enough about how vegetables feel when their short lives are rendered even shorter by our seemingly insatiable appetite for them. Don't tell me vegetables have no feelings. How do you know?

Take the humble cabbage for instance. There it sits in the garden or allotment, growing happily away developing a beautiful firm heart, and looking forward to bursting forth it's flowerheads. All it wants, is to do what we all strive to do, perpetuate it's species, well OK I will admit I do this purely for pleasure these days. If the opportunity should present itself that is, and what do we do, us humans? We watch and admire it's beauty, and then with never a moments regret, we sever it from its life source, and callously plunge it into boiling water.

Something has to be done about this, and not just for cabbages. Carrots too have suffered for years. What about Brussel sprouts? Not only do we kill and eat Brussel sprouts, but we do it even more at Christmas! Surely Christmas ought to be a time of peace and goodwill to all vegetables? And oh how the poor pumpkin must dread the approach of Halloween?

There are some vegetables that I dislike, but I believe that even they do not deserve to be killed indiscriminately. Even turnips, which have to be boiled for a fortnight before they become edible, deserve some respect.

So there you are then. You may by now have realised that I have decided against becoming a vegetarian. I just can't do it. I have far too caring a nature.

So sadly, I must inform you that I will continue to eat meat. It would be so wrong for animals to die needlessly. Naturally if I am to eat steak I shall need a few chips with it, or french fries as they call them in restaurants, and America. But potatoes are quite antisocial, the way they grow underground an all, so they don't count.

All right I admit it,I shall keep eating vegetables too. Perhaps I will compromise by eating tinned or frozen vegetables only. After all they are already dead, and there are an awful lot of them to get through.



11 comments:

  1. Believe it or not I seriously read something a long time ago that said that trees feel pain when we pick the fruit from them. If that's the case you may want to think about whether or not you'll be partaking of any fruit. :)

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  2. Aubergines and okra don't count either...slimey things deserve everything they get.
    Jane x

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  3. An excellent, reason not to go totally vegetarian. But fruit and vegetables are part of a good balanced meal...along with protein. And I agree with Jane about okra...but I like eggplant (aubergines). We try to eat at least 1 vegetarian meal a couple of times a week.

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  4. Actually someone decided to hook electrodes to plants and then subject them to things we would consider painful. There were definite reactions to the stimuli. Now whether they can scream in pain is the question. Being a vegetable lover I will also continue to eat my favorites and even peas now and then.

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  5. The only way to not be cruel is only to eat things which don't cast a shadow on anything else! And then ionly if it falls naturally from the plant.

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  6. LOL I'm feeling guilty as hell now..... think I'll go on a starvation diet.

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  7. There will be lots of sacrificial beans and courgettes from my plot hopefully, this summer

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  8. One of the things that comes with retirement is time to ponder on things. In an earlier life we were much too busy to think on things like this weren't we?
    I find myself much more sensitive to things that didn't matter to me a few years ago and I'm not sure I like it much.
    My mind is a whirl of information and google doesn't help, I guess your mind is the same John.
    Great post as always,
    Briony
    x

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  9. John, you have made me think about this entire scenario with a difference....wow and double wow.

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  10. An extremely deep and thoughtful post for you today, John! Like Virginia I don't know what else to add other than triple wow. Check out my post http://seasonsfullcircle.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/never-go-away.html if you get time.I know you have trouble with getting my blog.

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  11. If you get targeted with a spud-gun attack, know that you had it coming.

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