Eating plants is just as much murder as eating meat. Vast amounts of animals have to die, be displaced, and get farmed for their fertilizer in order to make any crop viable.
You cannot extract yourself from the natural world and the life cycle.
Discussion
maybe a significant point that everyone could agree on is that animal cruelty is barbaric.
it is also unnatural & not part of “the cycle of life.”
The principle of ahimsa (non-violence) reminds us that while we cannot completely avoid causing harm, we have a moral responsibility to minimize suffering wherever possible. Yes, it is correct that we cannot extract ourselves from even accidentally killing others like ants or flies. The idea is to reduce this harm to the greatest extent possible while acknowledging the impossibility of causing zero harm.
Regarding plant sentience—while plants have remarkable communication abilities through chemical signals, electrical impulses, and underground fungal networks, they fundamentally lack the biological structures necessary for experiencing suffering: no pain receptors, no nervous system, and no brain to process pain or emotions.
Modern growing methods like aquaponics create closed systems where fish provide natural fertilizer for plants, eliminating the need for external inputs. Even conventional hydroponics significantly reduces land use and can operate without animal-derived fertilizers.
Furthermore, animal agriculture requires vastly more plant cultivation than direct plant consumption, multiplying the harm to both plants and animals. By choosing plant-based foods, we minimize our impact on all living beings, and the environment.
Check out Murray Hallam's videos on YouTube. His work in the field of aquaponics is wonderful, and the fish do not have to be eaten, but can be raised and released, or maintained as part of the ecosystem.
YT
It starts small