My youngest daughter has decided to become a vegetarian…..not so surprising in this household, her Dad and two sisters are already of that ilk. Now it’s just my son and I who imbibe as omnivores. This can make cooking a meal a little tricky but I have been used to the multifaceted process for quite some time now. Once upon a time, way back when, I was also a vegetarian, but then I saw what I believed to be ‘the light’ and decided that to be vegetarian and not be a hypocrite in our society was nigh on impossible…(many foods contain hidden animal fats, clothes and material fibres often come from animal products, companies that we buy just about anything from are often involved in some form of cruelty to the animal species….even wine cannot easily be manufactured without the use of animal)….so in order to feel that I was not putting on the face of an enlightened or morally superior being, I have gone back to my meat eating.
Lately (and perhaps because of a little consciousness jog from my youngest daughter) I have been considering my stance….after some conjugation I said to my family ‘eating vegetables seems to have a downside too, I really feel that by singling the animal kingdom out for our compassion we are saying that we value the life of an animal more than a vegetable or plant…..do we really have the right to do this….isn’t ALL LIFE sacred…’ what do iou mean mum they chorused…. ‘well,’ I said, ‘ didn’t you ever read Supernature, there is some proof that plants have feelings…..surely interrupting a life is interrupting a life…if we judge the value of one life as more worthy than that of another, then where do we draw the line… Intelligence, ability to reason and so on cannot be seen as good arguments, what about the mentally impaired or the insane…is it morally justifiable to pop these guys off ? So you see a carrots life is ended when you yank it from the earth….and it has value…. The problem of course is now what do I eat….well everything of course so as not to be seen as valuing one thing above another…and that is my enlightened and morally high view point.’
Mums gone gaga they laughed….actually laughed and started making carrot jokes….which unfortunately have not abated but only gotten cleverer!!
A guy walks into a doctor’s office with a carrot in his ear and a piece of celery up his nose. The doctor told him he wasn't eating right.
All of this humour at my expense has made me do a little research…. in Morals, Reason, and Animals, Steve Sapontzis argues that basic moral principles such as fairness, protecting the weak against the strong, and aiming to reduce suffering cannot logically be limited to humans because suffering, distress, enjoyment, and fulfillment are not exclusively human conditions. The basic standards to which a moral person should adhere do not simply evaporate when considering nonhumans rather than humans. He states “Liberating animals ... refers to extending to animals the same sorts of moral protection for their interests that we already enjoy for ours." I agree and his argument more than adequately covers vegetables…although he is only arguing for animals and is a vocal vegetarian and animal liberationist…..life is life
Tom Regan, also a philosopher and British animal activist, has the view that we are forbidden to treat animals as simply means to our ends. This is because to do so is to violate their rights. They have, Regan argues, the right to live in virtue of the fact that they are the subject of a life .Right on I say and this applies to vegetables too!!!
Ultimately we are part of an age old food chain, we have teeth designed for meat and vegetable eating…In fact, being purely vegetarian is unnatural. There are as far as I know, no indigenous people living only of vegetables (something that is very hard to do without advanced nutrition and availability of a wide variety of vegetables around the year….does this mean that those from poorer countries who have no choice are morally lesser beings without the opportunity to better themselves?)
Moral philosopher, Austin Cline says, ”It is certainly debatable whether a vegetarian is more moral than a meat eater, but I don’t think that it’s quite so debatable that those who advocate greater legal protections for animal welfare are promoting a more positive moral position than those who don’t. Perhaps it is not necessary or comes at too high of a cost, but concern for suffering is definitely more moral than a lack of concern.
‘Animals are not the only living things grown in mass quantities for commercial gain. Animals are not the only living things grown in poor, over-crowded, confined and chemically induced environments.
The same is true for plants. Animals aren't the only ones tested upon. Animals are used in almost every facet of the research industry. However, plants have gone through their fair share of tests. They are interbred to develop new, better plants; they are moved into unnatural environments to test the effects of change and they are hunted down like criminals just to be plucked from their homes, killed and used for medical research. But, of course, they are just plants. They don't feel pain. They don't feel death. Or do they? Certainly they live, breath, grow, react to stimuli and die just as other living beings.’
I came across this “joke” the other day…but I refused to laugh…….’I'm not vegetarian because I love animals, I'm vegetarian because I don't like vegetables.’
My personal take then is that there is something morally wrong with causing suffering, not with eating…whatever… and with treating anything or anyone as a means only. We can’t guarantee the suffering or not of what we eat though…not unless we are fortunate enough to be self-sufficient and avoid the supermarket or the butcher….so where to then?...I guess just honour what you put into your stomach…think before you eat it and recognize the sacrifice it has made…do something good with your life so that the sacrifice isn’t wasted!!
on a lighter note check out this website.
: www.carrotmuseum.uk.com
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