Declaring that it would be better for tomato plants to be dead than enslaved to tomato growers, the ATLF has poisoned seedlings to liberate them from a lifetime of slavery before having the fruit of their labors cruelly picked and consumed. From the story:
Tomato prices could double or triple in coming months after millions of seedlings were poisoned in an act of mass sabotage in north Queensland. About 7 million plants, including about 4 million tomato seedlings, have been lost after they were poisoned at a Bowen nursery last month. Other affected crops include capsicum, melons and eggplant.
I made up the ATLF, of course. But the crime is real—and from what I read in the papers, not the first time food crops have been poisoned in Queensland. Nor am I making light of this dasterdly crime.
But there is a point here: This is the precisely the direction in which we are heading. Recall, for example, a New York Times journalist calling plants the most ethical life form and the declaration of intrinsic plant dignity in Switzerland. And remember, no matter how far out I go on these issues, they always catch up to me.
