Plants don't cry out for days when their children are taken away from them. Plants don't remember your face, come up to you and want attention. Plants don't scream when they are killed (no matter what some edgy research shows).
Or to put it more simply, would you feel bad pulling a plant out the ground? I would imagine probably not. Would you feel bad pulling the lever and watching as a pig is lowered into a gas chamber? Or while slitting a cow's throat? I would imagine probably yes (hence why slaughterhouse employees have so many mental health issues and there is such high turnover).
That's just a random line you have drawn.
> Plants don't cry out for days when their children are taken away from them.
Plants do feel pain and react to their surrounding. They are more primitive creatures though.
> would you feel bad pulling a plant out the ground?
Yes, I wouldn't do it and I am from a country where pulling an olive tree is illegal (with a jail sentence).
That said, plants do have defense mechanisms, of course. But that's not the same thing as pain or emotions.
In any case, generally strawberry pickers aren't traumatised in the same way as slaughterhouse workers.
Even if one were to view animal and plant lives as equivalent, around 40% of all crops are grown to feed animals.
Needless to say, it's a lossy conversion. Calorie-wise it's far less efficient for an animal to eat the food and for us to eat the animal, than for us to just eat the plant directly.
So if you really want to reduce un-necessary plant deaths/suffering, then ultimately eating less meat is the way to do it.
not accusing, but in case any commenter is going down a slippery slope: what produces the most harm? people! why dont we just kill ourselves instead of cutting out beef? vegetarian options have never been more accessible, and increasingly so
its certainly regional and cultural in the US. there are many towns and cities i visit where its quite difficult to find menu items without meat. i expect it will change over time