I was having dinner (a nice grilled vegetable ciabatta, incidentally) with some friends and the conversation got around to mine and my SO's vegetarianism. One brought up the studies that claimed that plants felt pain.
So myself, being the inquisitive type, looked it up on the Internet (even though it seemed absurd to me). Apparently, plants release a chemical agent when they are damaged in order to control cell growth and apparently the chemical agent emits a high pitched sound, which is how researchers determine the amount of the agent released.
http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/databas...1/b01052d.html
(second hand info, I know, but I haven't found the actual data)
This doesn't justify the pain caused to animals through the meat and dairy/egg industry, I know, but what does this research... imply to living an ethical life?
So myself, being the inquisitive type, looked it up on the Internet (even though it seemed absurd to me). Apparently, plants release a chemical agent when they are damaged in order to control cell growth and apparently the chemical agent emits a high pitched sound, which is how researchers determine the amount of the agent released.
http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/databas...1/b01052d.html
(second hand info, I know, but I haven't found the actual data)
This doesn't justify the pain caused to animals through the meat and dairy/egg industry, I know, but what does this research... imply to living an ethical life?
