Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too By Natalie Angier
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22angi.html
This article appeared on the New York Times' SCIENCE section on December 21. Please write a letter-to-the-editor today by emailing letters@nytimes.com. Click here to read their guidelines for writing letters. This article has already generated 760 comments on their website so it's a hot story item.
What bothers me about this article (other than the obvious) is that Ms. Angier does what lots of folks do to people who support animal rights. She clearly admits to eating fish and chickens but then points the finger at us claiming we are more obligated to not eat plants because we don't eat any animals. She's saying, "You, you people with a conscience. Do you eat plants? Well, if you don't eat animals then you shouldn't eat plants either." Meanwhile, she continues to eat meat AND plants.
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I tried to post a comment to the article, but they were already closed.
I've said this before, but it bears repeating: it is amazing the way intelligent people can say (and write) such stupid things. I'm convinced that deep-down this writer knows that her choices do not meet her own moral standards, and it drives her to do some serious logical acrobatics so she can live with herself.
Regardless of whether it is possible that she really believes the difference between a human and a cow (in terms of ability to suffer) is more meaningful than the difference between a cow and a plant, her argument is still dead on arrival:
Animals eat plants -- LOTS of them. Some sources suggest you have to "murder" 16 pounds of grain to create one pound of meat. Agribusiness says that figure is inflated, so let's be generous and say for the sake of argument that you only have to kill one pound of grain to create one pound of meat.
Do the math. The vegan just kills the grain. The meat eater kills the grain (possibly 16 times as much) and then goes on to kill the animal too. So even if the plants scream in pain, vegans still cause way less pain to the plant and animal kingdom.
This author is not really so stupid that she doesn't know this, is she?
after reading through a lot of the comments, I wonder if the author of that article feels any remorse or embarassment at what she wrote? even a lot of omnivores pointed out that major flaw in her thinking, regardless of the omnivore vs vegetarian/vegan aspect of the article. some of the discussions generated in the comments are hysterical too. this one made me crack up:
Your commentary is sophomoric, freshman even. Harvest! That is what you omit. Plants grow and die in due season. We do not kill plants for food, we harvest them. If not for harvesting they would merely rot. Harvest is a vital part of creation. Slaughtering animals, devoting huge acreage to their "manufacture" with hormones and antibiotics, is not. Your premise is an attempt at being crafty, but it is utter nonsense (Jason, NYC)
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