Settle a debate: would eating a Venus fly trap be considered vegan?

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 91 points –
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Yes. They aren’t digesting meat, they are absorbing potassium and fixed nitrogen. The plant cells are, well, plant cells.

If the plant is carnivorous are it's cells not the product of animal suffering?

Nature's metal. We can't change that. However for the first time in history you have the opportunity to not eat the only companions we have in the universe.

That doesn't change how the plant made those cells though.

I mean, technically all plants are carnivorous. They all depend on soil which is organic matter made from all sorts of post-living organisms plants, bacteria, insects, and animals alike.

Then some plants would still be more carnivorous than others. When I hear someone talking about how clearing land for food kills lots of animal, the typical response I see is that Vegans know this, but try to avoid animal suffering whenever possible because its simply not always possible. I think that line of reasoning could easily be used to say well why eat a fly trap when theres other plants that don't cause as much harm to animals. Imagine if everyone started eating flytraps then they would need to be mass farmed, and mass fed, and I'd imagine they'd look a lot less vegan in that situation.

If we were involved in the process, say 1m Venus traps in a shed and fed flies bred specifically then that's not OK. But as its part of a natural plant process then it's still wierd but OK. I think, who am I to say? The vegan judge?

Well the point of the post is to nit pick a hypothetical since I doubt many people, much less vegans are actually eating those plants, we're all casing judgement here. Especially since not everyone definition of veganism is the same. To me if its dietary and chemical then obviously it doesn't matter, but if the 'product of animal suffering' is someones black and white philosophy then to me Flytraps seem about as vegan as consuming the flies they eat (which is only like one month). While an insignificant amount, it is measurable is all I'm saying, literally a technicality but that's why its a basically hypothetical post online I suppose. In reality, everyone draws their own line somewhere, from the jainists who breath through cheese cloths to protect any microorganisms they can to the carnivours.