Meat-eaters ask vegans and vegetarians all sorts of weird questions. This is normally a self-defense mechanism because the mere presence of a vegan or vegetarian can throw up some weird emotions for people who, at the very least, care for animals but still eat them.

On a regular basis I’ll get questions like… ‘If there was a dog and a baby about to die, you’d save the dog right?’

Because apparently vegans hate babies.

Another example is the desert island scenario. ‘So say you’re stranded on a desert island, no one else, just you and another animal, would you kill and eat the animal or would you starve to death?’ My general response goes along the lines of ‘Oh you mean those weird imaginary desert islands that don’t grow fruit?’ I find it strange that in all of these scenarios I must kill an animal.

The absolute weirdest question I get is ‘How do you know that plants don’t have feelings? They are living too so how come you’re happy to kill and eat them?’

In the clear light of day these questions are absolute nonsense and show that actually the person posing the question is probably the one experiencing the moral dilemma.

Surprisingly, even Wonderful Husband used to defend his meat-eating with the ‘plants have feelings’ excuse too. He would say that if there were no way of eating food without hurting any living thing then he couldn’t understand what the point was to save the animals and kill the plants. I remember feeling shocked that he was trying to justify his meat-eating using my plant-eating, even though I knew it was just his conscience battling his appetite.

The plant excuse became really popular after an article was published back in 2014. Summary: Scientists found that a particular type of plant reacted to a certain type of vibration by releasing more mustard oil than usual. Those vibrations resembled those of a chewing caterpillar. Caterpillars don’t like mustard oil so they left the plant alone.

Well in that case plants must have feelings.

We live in a world where most people can’t justify eating a dog, yet I’m having to justify eating a plant. But let’s carry on with the justification regardless…

The leading causes of rainforest destruction are livestock and feedcrops.

Yep, they cut down a ton of trees to make space for factory farms, more so than for anything else. But wait, there’s even more.

Worldwide, at least 50% of grain (plants!) is fed to livestock.

Animals in the factory farming industry are fed a whole lot of plants to ensure they bulk up before slaughter.

To summarise, veganism results in the killing of fewer plants than a meat-eating diet. So if your genuine concern for plants has been the only thing stopping you from becoming vegan then I’ve gone and solved your problem. You’re welcome.

But seriously, if you’re living in a first world country the only excuse you could possibly have to eat meat is that you like the taste. Then once you connect the sole reason for factory farms (one of the most destructive businesses on the planet!) to your craving for meat then you’ll probably question my choice to eat plants a little less.

Remember if you are craving meat, it’s not the animal you’re craving, it’s the texture and the seasoning. So choose chewy, salty, cruelty-free foods to combat that craving. There are so many cruelty-free alternatives out there that meet all of these criteria.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like any help in transitioning to a more cruelty-free diet (for both animals and plants)💚