Can Plants Feel Pain?

Feb 22, 2021

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."
-Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Believe It or Not

Much to my surprise, the "plants feel pain" argument is still one of the most common excuses peddled on the anti-vegan market. While this seems like a pretty basic question -- indeed, it's one of those that makes most vegans roll their eyes in frustration -- let's explore it seriously so we can better understand why this argument still exists and how to respond.

Whataboutism

There is a serious problem underlying this query, and that's whataboutism, a logical fallacy used to disregard an opponent's argument. By changing the topic in order to make your position seem hypocritical, they both take control of the conversation and avoid answering the question at hand.

Generally, when people blurt out, "But plants feel pain too!" they don't necessarily even believe it themselves, but saying this is meant to put you on defense, particularly because they're feeling very defensive themselves and want to go on offense. They're making the connection that animals feel pain, vegans don't eat or use animals, and they do eat and/or use animals, so they want to put both parties on equal footing by saying that vegans, in fact, cause just as much suffering as they do.

Often, they want all or nothing when using this excuse -- either all living things and beings are sentient or none are sentient -- because they're feeling affronted by the insinuation that they're culpable for animal cruelty. One important reminder for activists is to never intentionally talk down to or insult non-vegans, especially when discussing issues, like this, regarding ethics. We want to approach them with understanding and compassion, just as we would've wanted before going vegan.

How to Respond

Our initial response to this question may be one of glibness, but tamp that reflex down and focus on answering seriously. It's important to begin with something positive -- "That's an interesting question, thanks for asking!" or, "I used to think the same thing, until I found out..." -- to show them that you appreciate their intelligence and consideration. That being said, there are two different routes to take when answering, depending on your preference: facts or morals.

Fact: Animals Have Nerves

Generally, I avoid using facts when someone is prepared to dispute them, whether their refutations are credible or not. (Reality doesn't always matter; people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of truth.) However, a good track to follow here is to first start by discussing biology and how different animals -- which includes both humans and nonhumans -- are alike. We have remarkably similar anatomy and physiology, including the nerves we use to feel physical sensations, making us all able to experience pain.

Plants, on the other hand, do not have nerves and, to the best of our knowledge, are incapable of feeling pain. Additionally, plants don't have brains, making them unable to think or have any semblance of consciousness. At the threat of pain or death, plants remain unresponsive, whereas most animals' survival instincts will kick in to protect themselves. Where plants may respond to stimuli, that is nothing more than an unconscious reflex, like a chemical reaction.

Fact: Nonhuman Animals Eat More Plants & Use More Land

Overall, about 50 percent of all grains grown worldwide are fed to livestock, requiring approximately 18 times more land (about 45 percent of all land on the planet) for an animal-based diet than a plant-based diet.1,2 Therefore, regardless of the sentience of plants or even of the truthfulness of how many wild animals, like field mice and insects, are killed when harvesting crops or through the use of pesticides, it would be far more beneficial to eat only plants than to eat both plants and animals.

Additionally, animal agriculture is the leading cause of habitat destruction and Amazon deforestation, not just for farming the animals themselves but to grow their feed.1,2 If we truly are concerned with the possible sentience of plants, solely eating plants would require fewer individual plant deaths and destroy far fewer wild plants in the process.

Moral: All Animals Can Feel

You'd be hard-pressed to find a human who believes dogs or giraffes or dolphins can't feel physically or emotionally, but somehow we've been duped into believing that certain species have lost such a basic biological function. It's logically inconsistent to believe that only some animals are capable of feeling, especially when it comes to other mammals like cows or rats or goats.

Moral: Focus on the Issue at Hand

Instead of playing into the whataboutism by discussing the non-issue of plant sentience, ask them to focus on addressing animal sentience. Veganism isn't about plants; it's about animals, so the first step is to acknowledge that they are worthy of moral consideration and being treated with respect. After we establish that baseline, we can delve further into the possible ethical quandaries associated with using plant life.

be conscious, be kind, be vegan

Sources

[1] Cowspiracy

[2] Food Choice and Sustainability by Dr. Richard Oppenlander