With a little idle time on my hands today, I was browsing through the
latest issue of Science News and noticed they have listed in their book
corner for this month the title: The Savage Garden--Cultivating Carnivorous
Plants. Which immediately prompted the extremely tough ethical question :-)
that everyone should be wrestling with as the next frontier of proper
ethical eating behavior: If you are a vegan, should you eat a venus flytrap
or a pitcher plant knowing its last meal might have been a nice juicy
insect? Would they be an environmentally efficient addition to the thinking
organic gardener's biodynamic plot? Just think of the synergistic effects
of not only eating all the usual fruit in one's diet, but the flies that
would be attracted--usually a most unpleasant nuisance (and often
presenting yet another terrible ethical dilemma of whether or not to splat
them with the flyswatter)--would fit right in. Nature could take its own
course by taking care of the flies with a most efficient form of recycling.
Certainly very environmentally cool too, ya gotta admit. If I were a vegan
wanting a little revenge, I think the idea might be very attractive to
consider. I mean think of it: you could have your revenge, and yet at the
very same time the ramifications could be immense, leading to a rather
exquisite form of justice and, ultimately, harmony among our fellow
organismic beings.

Carnivorous plants for peace and environmental reciprocity! Let's talk
about it, folks. :-)

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]>