Opinion Express View: Turns out plants scream out in pain too

For centuries, it was believed that the mandrake herb, known for its medicinal and psychoactive properties, is a magical plant which shrieks when it is uprooted. While the scream of the mandrake is mere legend, scientists have now discovered that plants do indeed emit screams when they are cut or are dehydrated. And unlike the mandrake’s scream, which was believed to be fatal, the sounds that come out of plants when they suffer can only be heard by some animals and insects.

This difference may soothe the conscience of anyone who has callously let a potted ficus die or dismissed a neglected fittonia’s droopy, yellowing leaves as “dramatic”. But should it? Indeed, one would imagine that it’s not just the chronic under-waterers and over-pruners who would feel unsettled by this discovery. All those committed to browbeating consumers of animal products into giving them up would now have to admit that even the plant-based alternatives they recommend aren’t exactly consistent with the “cruelty-free” lifestyle.

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Because, if plants too feel pain and thirst in the way that the so-called higher life forms do, then no choice — not vegetarianism nor veganism — is truly “cruelty-free”. Telling someone to replace their actual steak with a “cauliflower steak” may once have been easy. But would that still be the case after knowing that the cauliflower wailed in pure agony when it was harvested? The moral high ground is starting to look like a more level place.