If you eat a tree does it cry?

[Extremus@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-05-23 23:26:34 EDT, you write:

>>To me, there isn't much difference between killing plants and killing
>animals.
>
>I don't think I've seen too many plants cry of pain or bleed... You?

Well, if you cut my rubber tree plant's leaves, it bleeds--it's white, not
red, but it's "blood" just the same.  Some plants wilt at a touch or loud,
harsh sounds.  Cut a leaf in half and Kirilian photography shows a "phantom"
whole leaf--just like "phantom limbs" on people who've lost one.  There have
been some scientific experiments which show that ripping a carrot or potato
from the ground, or slicing pieces off some plants results in a (normally
impossible to hear) cry.  Is it pain?  Don't know.  But they don't "cry" if
you don't damage them.

A life is a life is a life.  It's more a matter of cultural background than
morality.  I'd starve before eating my cat or dog, (but would eat a
human--preferably not a close friend--in dire circumstances) but they're
(cats, dogs, and humans) just another food source in some countries/cultures.

Given a choice, would a vegetable prefer to be eaten or not?

MN

Obligatory Who content:  no vegetarians in the lot.