My sensibility is such that I do not feel that killing a stalk of wheat is somehow less bad for the wheat than killing a cow is for the cow. An argument against my position could be that cows, or crustaceans, feel pain not unlike we do, and that stalks of wheat do not. And I would say then that it is also worth appreciating the validity of the “feelings” or experiences of species and things that do not seem so like us, of species and things that may “feel” in ways we cannot imagine or that may be beyond feeling, without this implying any inferiority.
To read the original and full text of this essay, click on Warmth and love and truth. Photograph is by Michael Interisano, Close-up Of Green Wheat Stalk, Alberta
William Eaton 