Yes. Wouldn't be horrible if we one day discovered that plants were conscious and aware in some way? I don't know that this will happen but we've certainly discovered stranger things so it wouldn't surprise me.
Waxing philosophical for a moment, life isn't possible without death. We kill grass and insects just walking around. Our existence consumes resources - some of which are finite that could have sustained something or someone else. The water I drink comes from reservoirs created by damming up rivers and creeks. Doing that radically changed the downstream ecosystem which killed things that used to live there. The house I live in was built from trees that I'm sure were farmed - radically changing that ecosystem - which again killed things. It's built on land that used to be orchards that used to native habitat. The PVC piping used in my house (and the plastic sheathing on my ethenet cables and electrical wires ... and more) - made from oil. Which is dead things that were then extracted and processed using methods that altered local ecosystems - which killed things. Food is just another link in that chain of death.
The takeaway here is that from an ethical and moral standpoint, living in a way where you have a reasonable impact on the world around you is a difficult and complex issue. I certainly don't know the right answer. I think we all just do the best we can.
So I empathize with those who have gone vegetarian / vegan (which includes a member of my family, btw). They've made their choice out of the best of intentions. I've made mine which I think is based on at least reasonable intentions. One day we may have vat-grown protein that is lower ecological and ethical impact. That would be really nice. But until then, I do my best to support farmers and ranchers that raise their cattle, chickens, etc. in healthier more humane ways instead of the factory meat producers.
Sadly, many people don't have that option. They either can't afford it or their local stores don't give them the choice.
And since we're raising and killing the cows anyway, I'd rather buy the leather to promote using more of the cow that was killed for me instead of buying a synthetic - most of which are made using petrochemicals.
Why not textile seats, you ask? I used to be a big fan of textile seats - until I had kids. Then I discovered that good leather holds up far better to messes generated by young kids (and dogs of all ages) than cloth does. So now, we're all in on leather. Leather interiors on the cars and leather furniture. No more cloth until our kids are older and the dogs are gone.
Waxing philosophical for a moment, life isn't possible without death. We kill grass and insects just walking around. Our existence consumes resources - some of which are finite that could have sustained something or someone else. The water I drink comes from reservoirs created by damming up rivers and creeks. Doing that radically changed the downstream ecosystem which killed things that used to live there. The house I live in was built from trees that I'm sure were farmed - radically changing that ecosystem - which again killed things. It's built on land that used to be orchards that used to native habitat. The PVC piping used in my house (and the plastic sheathing on my ethenet cables and electrical wires ... and more) - made from oil. Which is dead things that were then extracted and processed using methods that altered local ecosystems - which killed things. Food is just another link in that chain of death.
The takeaway here is that from an ethical and moral standpoint, living in a way where you have a reasonable impact on the world around you is a difficult and complex issue. I certainly don't know the right answer. I think we all just do the best we can.
So I empathize with those who have gone vegetarian / vegan (which includes a member of my family, btw). They've made their choice out of the best of intentions. I've made mine which I think is based on at least reasonable intentions. One day we may have vat-grown protein that is lower ecological and ethical impact. That would be really nice. But until then, I do my best to support farmers and ranchers that raise their cattle, chickens, etc. in healthier more humane ways instead of the factory meat producers.
Sadly, many people don't have that option. They either can't afford it or their local stores don't give them the choice.
And since we're raising and killing the cows anyway, I'd rather buy the leather to promote using more of the cow that was killed for me instead of buying a synthetic - most of which are made using petrochemicals.
Why not textile seats, you ask? I used to be a big fan of textile seats - until I had kids. Then I discovered that good leather holds up far better to messes generated by young kids (and dogs of all ages) than cloth does. So now, we're all in on leather. Leather interiors on the cars and leather furniture. No more cloth until our kids are older and the dogs are gone.
I joke at turkey dinners that we have gone beyond "free range" and that the turkey just came back from an all-inclusive resort before being on our dinner table.
