The Argument
One of the most common attacks on vegans is to bring up the possibility that plants feel pain. Usually this ridiculous retort is uttered at a point when non-vegans are grasping at any possible argument to make themselves feel better once they start to feel their cognitive dissonance. But this argument won’t make you feel much better as it is flimsy and easily destroyed.
The Rebuttal
Let’s assume plants do feel pain, even though the best available evidence shows that they have no central nervous system. It is true that plants respond to stimuli, such as growing towards the sun, they are alive after all. But they do not have nerves. And without nerves, the logical conclusion is that they do not feel pain.1,2 But let’s set those facts aside and assume they do in fact feel pain.
One of the core elements of the definition of veganism is to reduce suffering as much “as is possible and practicable.” The fact of the matter is, we have to eat something to survive, therefore it is not possible or practical to abstain from eating, and we have to choose what to eat.
We could choose to eat animals and their products, we could choose to eat plants, or we could choose a combination. So assuming both animals and plants feel pain, to decide what is morally the best choice, we have to consider which of these options causes the least amount of pain and suffering.
Animals eat plants. Therefore if you are eating animals or products that came from an animal, you are effectively eating the plants that were filtered through a living being. Furthermore, animals eat catastrophically more plants than humans do. The amount of plant input does not come close to the amount of animal product output. Therefore, the only logical choice to reduce suffering is to eat plants directly rather than any combination that includes any animal products whatsoever.
What About Animals’ Pain?
Another common argument once the “plants feel pain” argument is destroyed is to bring up the animals that may be harmed or killed in the production of plant crops.
Yes, it is true that animals may be harmed in the fields during crop production. But once again, the vast majority of plant crop production goes directly to the animal agriculture industry. And veganism isn’t about being completely perfect and causing no harm, but to do our best to reduce suffering and pain. Therefore, the option causing the least amount of pain is still to only eat plants.
Having said all of this, whether plants feel pain or not, we clearly know that animals feel pain. We can look into their eyes and see it. We can watch their body language and understand they are fearful and suffering. If we try to find ways to justify their consumption, we are just grasping at anything to justify what we intuitively know is wrong.
We desperately want to find a justification for consuming animal products because we have done it for so long and we like it. But just because we have done something for years and we enjoy it, doesn’t make it right.
We know animals feel pain. Plants may or may not feel pain. Either way, eating plants directly clearly has a much lower impact and will reduce overall suffering. As vegan activist Earthling Ed often asks, “what has higher value–taste or life?” Are your traditions and your 15 minutes of taste pleasure more important than the life–the entire existence–of a sentient being? We are not in a survival situation, so we have no need to harm animals to survive, and therefore no moral justification to do so.
Ignorance Is Bliss
We are so separated from how our food is produced that it is easy to forget the suffering involved. In fact in the production of animal products, human suffering must also be factored in. Slaughterhouse workers have some of the highest rates of depression and suicide.3 Plus these are some of the most dangerous places to work, not just because of the danger inherent in this type of work, but also because of the close quarters leading to disease spread as we saw during the pandemic.
But since we do not see this directly, it is easy to forget. Ignorance is bliss. We want to hold onto that instead of realizing we are hypocrites. And I don’t judge this position because I was a hypocrite, too. When we learn what actually goes on, we think it is wrong. When asked if it is wrong to harm or kill animals, of course we all say yes. But we pay someone else to do it for us. And still we choose to eat an animal “product” with no questions asked. We see these products as just that…an inanimate object. Forgetting the life that was taken for our convenience and taste preference.
If you are still consuming animal products, it is difficult to be faced with the fact that you are responsible for this pain and suffering of humans and animals. And it’s not your fault. Society, government, the meat and dairy industry all do a great job of hiding the truth and the ramifications of animal production from us. If you don’t know something, you can’t be responsible. But once you know, you have an obligation to make the morally correct choice.
Educating Yourself and Confronting the Cognitive Dissonance
I highly recommend checking out information about what really goes on in the animal industry. Even if you are already vegetarian, but still consume eggs and dairy. These industries are perhaps the worst offenders and at the very least are just as bad since ultimately all dairy cows get sent for slaughter as part of the beef industry. So consuming dairy is effectively supporting the beef industry.
Be warned that these are disturbing and distressing to watch, but if you consume animal products I recommend educating yourself. There are tons of resources out there, but regarding suffering specifically, I recommend checking out documentaries such as Earthings and Dominion, the website Meat.org, or Gary Yourofsky’s speech on YouTube. Again these contain extremely distressing and disturbing footage. The fact that we have to give warning of the disturbing nature of the images just goes to show that if we can hardly bring ourselves to watch what is happening, we must know deep down that it is wrong.
Final Thoughts
As of 2022 when this post was published, it is estimated that worldwide at least 80 billion land animals are killed in the meat and dairy industries every year. Take a moment to consider that number. 80 billion. It is difficult for us to contemplate numbers this large, but consider there are only 7 billion humans on earth. So we are breeding and killing more than 10 times that number of animals every year.
This doesn’t even take into consideration the number of marine lives taken, which is over a trillion. Yes, that is trillion with a “T.” And this includes whales, turtles, dolphins, and other sea animals that are accidentally killed as bycatch in the process of capturing the fish we consume. Truly incomprehensible and numbing. It’s no wonder the oceans are expected to be empty by 2050.
As hopeless as the situation seems, it is important to realize we have power as individuals. The only reason these animals are bred, is because people continue to pay for it. Supply and demand is a powerful force. So if we stop buying meat, dairy, and eggs, we can slowly reduce the number of animals that are bred and killed. And if we stop buying fish, the oceans will not need to be destroyed.
As I’ve said before, I am not here to try and make you go vegan. I am simply here to share information that I’ve learned on my journey. I believe once we know better, we must do better. So all I am asking of you is to take a look at some of the resources I’ve linked throughout this article and simply consider your food choices. Think a little deeper about what it really means to put animals on your plate.
If you are moved to try a more plant-based diet, you can find many resources on the health aspects of eating a whole food plant based diet on my Resources page. There are so many tools available to support you in transitioning to this way of eating and way of life.
Sources
- There has been much study on the consciousness, or lack thereof, of plants. Check out this article published in the journal Protoplasm debunking the myth that plants have consciousness.
- Here is another scientific article discussing the fact that plants do not feel pain.
- For more information on slaughterhouse workers’ mental health check out this article: The Psychological Impact of Slaughterhouse Employment: A Systematic Literature Review.
