Hi everyone, and welcome back to questions for vegans! Today we’ve got a fun one, about plants. So let’s get right to it, shall we?
The Question
Today’s question is an interesting one. “Don’t plants have feelings too?” Now, usually this question will come from meat-eater and is asked of vegans when they say that they feel eating animals is wrong.
This can get frustrating for vegans because it often seems quite disingenuous. I mean, since when do you care about the feelings of plants anyway? But I still think it is worth answering, like all of the other questions in this series.
When a meat eater asks this question, sometimes they are just trying to stir up trouble or argue. that veganism is useless, I know. But some people who ask this question are actually trying to process information. This is the first time they’ve had this thought and they’re genuinely asking the question. (Take a look at the first post in this series here for a deeper conversation about this dynamic and miscommunication between vegans and nonvegans.)
The Subtext
I think when people ask this question, they’re not just asking about the feelings of plants. (And some conversations I’ve had around this question have confirmed this.) What people often mean by this is as follows:
“Okay, so you’re saying that eating and using animals is wrong because it causes suffering. But I heard that plants are living things too, they taught us that in science class. So like, what makes them different than animals? Isn’t it just arbitrary to say you can’t eat animals but plants are fine?”
And yes, maybe the line of questioning is a little defensive. But I think it’s also important to know why you’re advocating for something, why you’ve chosen to do something, or why you should consider something. And when it comes down to it, asking this question can sometimes be a necessary step in understanding. Because making the distinction isn’t futile, in practice.
The short answer
So shortly and directly, no. As far as we know, plants don’t have feelings. There are people who hypothesize that they might, and they’re not just the “village crazies”. But as far as we can tell now, plants don’t have feelings.
The longer answer
While plants and animals are both living things, the kind of lives they have are very different. As far as science can currently show us, animals are sentient (like us humans), while plants are not. But when we’re talking about sentience, what do we really mean? Well, in the context of this question, we’re talking about plants having feelings and being able to experience pain and suffering. And as far as we can tell, no. They don’t have a nervous system set up for that.
Plants are, however, much more alive than we normally give them credit for. They do respond to stimulus such as sunlight. They do have the ability to communicate with each other and respond to threats. However, in terms of long term suffering and pain, we don’t have enough evidence to reach a scientific consensus that they do feel pain in that way. They just don’t have nervous systems or brains for it.
Animals and sentience
Animals, however, have no lack of evidence for their sentience and thus, there is scientific consensus. They feel, they think, and yes, they suffer. And we can clearly see this if we’re paying attention. Sure, you can hear the screams in the footage from the inside of slaughterhouses, but you really don’t have to go that far out of your way.
We can look at our pets and we get to know them very well. We can see that they have their own personalities, that they have feelings and love for us. And we can see that they feel pain and suffering when they get hurt or when someone they love is gone.
Farm animals are the same. They feel fear when they’re being lined up for slaughter. They miss their families when they’re separated. And yes, they feel the pain when their lives are taken away. This is science, but also simple observable fact.
If you’re still worried about plant suffering
I’m not the kind of vegan who will tell you not to be worried about the suffering of plants. I do think, however, that we should first prioritize not contributing to the suffering that we do have sufficient evidence of. And in that way, yes, veganism is the way to go.
However, surprisingly, veganism would still help to reduce plant death and suffering, if plants had feelings to be worried about. This may strike you as odd, but it’s the truth. The thing is, we need to feed the animals something to make them grow into being a marketable “product” (as much as I hate using that word for the body of a sentient being). So we end up using a lot of our crops of plants to feed livestock that we then end up eating. It’s a really inefficient system when you take into account the fact that all of that food is being used to sustain what will one day become only a meal or two.
And when we look at this with the perspective of killing and eating less plants, we see that less would actually be necessary if we stopped using them to feed animals first. So if you’re worried about plant suffering (in addition to or even instead of animal suffering), the answer is still to eat only plants, ironically.
Eat plants, not animals
Truly, there are so many reasons to eat plants instead of animals. And if you want to read more about that, you should check out my article about why veganism is the thing to do (you can find it here). But if you’re looking at this from the perspective of decreasing the suffering that you necessitate, veganism becomes a very important concept. We know that animals suffer when it comes to choosing to use and slaughter them for our tastebuds, entertainment, aesthetic and/or fashion. That is a fact, and an avoidable habit that we can break.
When it comes to plants, not only do we not have enough evidence to believe that they can feel pain, we can also cut down on the amount of plants we necessitate the use of in our diets by cutting out the middle man (the animal flesh) and simply getting our nutrients from plant sources instead. So, the conclusion is simple. Eat plants, not animals. If you care about the suffering of animals, or plants.
As always, thank you for listening to my thoughts. If you want to read more questions that vegans often get asked, click here for a post where I’ve compiled a running list of FAQ’s. And if you’re looking for more vegan content, remember to subscribe to the blog for email updates when there’s a new post on the site. Until next time, eat plants and have a great day!