Is it wrong to eat plants? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from  BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.  

And I’m Rob. Many people these days choose not  

to eat meat, and for vegetarians, eating animals  is wrong. But what about digging up a carrot, or  

picking apples from a tree? Is that wrong too? I don’t think so, Neil. Plants aren’t alive in the  

same way as animals, are they? They can’t  think or feel pain. And even vegetarians  

need to eat something. Fruit, vegetables,  rice, beans – they all come from plants.  

It’s true that plants don’t have brains or  nerves, but according to some scientists,  

they’re much more than passive things rooted  in the ground. Plants can learn and remember,  

they solve problems, and can even recognise  other plants in their ‘family’. So, given the  

amazing things plants do, is it right to eat them?  That’s what we’ll be discussing in this programme,  

and as usual we'll be learning some  new useful vocabulary as well.  

But first I have a question for you, Neil. Anyone  who's seen cows grazing knows it’s usually animals  

that eat plants, but some plants have turned the  evolutionary tables to eat animals instead. So,  

which tropical plant is famous for  trapping insects to eat? Is it:  

a) the corpse flower? b) the American skunk cabbage? or  

c) the Venus fly trap? I think it’s c) the Venus fly trap.  

OK, Neil. We’ll find out if that’s the  right answer later in the programme.  

Plants have been on the planet for hundreds  of millions of years longer than humans,  

and have used that time to evolve special  skills. Here’s Professor Rick Karban,  

a biologist at the University of  California, explaining more to James Wong,  

botanist and presenter of BBC Radio 4  programme, Is Eating Plants Wrong?  

Without eyes plants can perceive a lot of  information about light, without noses plants  

can perceive chemical information, without  ears plants can perceive sounds, and so we've  

come to realise that plants are very perceptive  about what's going on in their environments.  

You could argue for example that plants can  perceive most of the senses that humans can.  

I would agree with that and then some… What d’you mean, ‘and then some’?  

Anyone who's had a dog knows that dogs have  a much keener sense of smell than humans do,  

and we're now learning that plants are very  responsive to chemicals in their environment.  

Even without ears, eyes, or a nose, plants are  very perceptive – they notice things around  

them. In fact, Professor Karban says that  plants perceive as much as humans and then  

some - an idiom meaning ‘and even more’  which is used to emphasise that what you  

mentioned before was an understatement. For  example: Bill Gates is rich and then some!  

Like dogs, plants have a keen sense of smell,  which they used to detect chemicals in the  

air. Here, keen means powerful and intense. OK, so plants can ‘see’ light and ‘smell’ the air,  

but does that mean they’re intelligent? Maybe so. Studies modelled on the famous Pavlov’s  

dog experiment, have trained pea seedlings to  find the quickest route to light through a maze,  

and remember it – evidence of memory. In  another experiment, potted plants were lined  

up with roots joining them like a chain of people  holding hands. The plants talked to each other,  

passing along information about water  and air temperature through their roots,  

like children playing a game where a message  is passed on, in a whisper, through a chain  

of people, becoming distorted in the process.  Distorted means changed from its original form.  

All this takes brain power, and there’s clearly  evidence that plants might have some kind of  

intelligence. So, given all of this, is it  wrong to eat them? That’s what James Wong asked,  

Michael Marder, professor of philosophy at the  University of the Basque Country for his BBC Radio  

4 programme, Is Eating Plants Wrong? Is it wrong to eat plants?  

It is not in and of itself wrong to eat plants,  but we have to do so while keeping in mind the  

context in which we're doing this. We have to  first of all think about what kinds of plants  

we are eating, what are the parts of those plants?  Are we in fact destroying the entire living being,  

or just taking certain of its parts such as  fruits and leaves that are not essential to  

it that can actually fall off without  doing harm to the whole organism?  

Professor Marder says that eating plants is not  wrong in and of itself – when considered alone,  

without taking anything else into account.  But he thinks it’s important to remember the  

context – the situation or circumstances in which  something happens. Picking an apple, for example,  

is okay because it doesn’t kill the tree itself  which can go on to produce more fruit.  

It seems plants really are clever – but do  they know the answer to your question, Rob?  

Ah yes, I asked you to name the  famous insect-eating topical plant.  

And I said it was the Venus fly trap. Which was the correct answer! Well done, Neil. OK,  

let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned,  starting with the adjective perceptive – quick  

to notice and understand things. The idiom, and then some means ‘and  

even more’ and is used to show that  something has been understated.  

A keen sense of smell, sight or  hearing, is powerful and intense.  

Distorted means changed from its original form. The phrase in and of itself means when  

considered alone, without taking  anything else into account.  

And finally, the context is the general situation  in which something happens. Once again, our six  

minutes are up. Goodbye! Goodbye!