Many around me are turning to be ‘Vegan’ for it is the new buzzword. Of course, being considerate is laudable, but do you think plants are insensitive?
I dug into some research papers and was in awe of what science has enabled us to understand. Plants do sense pain! A research made by a team at the University of Missouri shows that plants can hear being chewed. Arabidopsis, on being subjected to chewing sounds made by caterpillars produced defensive gases and oils. It’s not just rock and roll that plants can listen! [the secret life of plants, 1973]. There is evidence that plants scream in pain. Though the sound is not audible to human ears, a laser-powered microphone can record the screams of plants under distress [University of Bonn].
Further, an experiment carried out on Fir trees, injected with Radioactive Carbon isotopes, showed that plants communicate and share nutrients with each other. The old plants act as a hub to feed the young, deprived of sunlight or essential nutrition. Not very different from human affection and care!?
A renowned plant neurologist when asked if plants feel pain, replied,
| ‘If plants are conscious, then, yes, they should feel pain’
Considering the above facts, it is no denying that plants are not insentient.
Non-human animals were initially believed to be ‘organisms without emotions and feelings’, and then proved wrong. How far are we from concluding moral prohibitions on eating vegetables and experimentation on plants?
The next time you pluck a flower/fruit from a tree or chomp on that juicy lettuce, remember, they scream ; D
Please note – This post is only informative, tried to induce a thought process. There is no intention to promote/ suffice any idea.
I enjoy the report