Little Billy Fishkins, with buck teeth and a striped shirt, walks carelessly into old man Jenkins backyard. He wraps his greasy fingers around papa apple, ripping him away from his family and friends. Johnny opens his gaping mouth, razor sharp buck teeth ready for the kill. But what becomes of poor mama apple? A few days later old man Jenkins cuts the vein to her life source, throwing her in a bag with other dying apples and throws them all into a truck bed where few will survive.
In a world where everyone is begging for rights we’re overlooking the ones who deserve it the most; not gays, blacks, whites or even animals, but plants. Plants are being ripped away from their families by strange men with sickles, machinery, and all sorts of torture devices. Baby carrots are ripped from their mothers, and potatoes can only hide under ground for so long.
How do you create a spud? By dissecting another spud! Poor grandpa spud, his eyes are dissected asunder and then buried. But from the very desire to live, a spud grows forth from one of these eyes creating new life in the field among other spuds. As his cousins grow he too develops in stature, and a leafy green plant is his art. Soon a misty fog gently covers the field like agent orange putting a nation to sleep. With their greenery exposed the taters gasp for air, and slowly the beautiful green leaves wilt and die cutting off all nourishment for the taters. A rumble rolls across the field as this grim machine crushes and flattens anything above the earth. After every living thing appears to be dead and as the field lay waste, little tater still hides safely under ground until the claw. It viciously sneaks underneath the family of taters, no escape to be found. Shaken onto a conveyor belt and dumped into a truck, the little spud lays with all his screaming family members. The cries are so loud he can barely hear, as another conveyor belt spreads them out to be sorted. All the safety of soil is now gone, only shear horror left as the faces roll by deciding who will die and who will live; like families divided in a Nazi concentration camp.
These are real stories from the lives of real plants. It’s happening in our own backyards. They are forced to grow in tiny army constructed rows never allowed to reach their full growth potential. Many people choose to ignore what happens in plant production. The American public buys plant flesh wrapped in plastic packages that bear little or no resemblance to the sentient creatures they once were. It is often assumed that plants are slaughtered in a clean, orderly process that minimizes stress and pain. But nothing could be further from the truth. Investigations have exposed the fact that plants are routinely dismembered while still fully conscious in U.S. processing plants (HFA's Campaign to Stop Slaughterhouse Abuse).
America needs to realize there are ways to stop plant cruelty, like wearing cruelty-free clothes never made from cotton. Lady Gaga supported this philosophy, wearing a beautifully crafted dress made entirely of meat (Lady Gaga's VMA Meat Dress To Become 'Jerky). Like Lady Gaga we should take after the king of plants, the Venus Fly Trap. “Carnivorous plants live all over the world” and we need to be a part of their enduring legacy (The Mysterious Venus Flytrap).
Perhaps the most important thing about plants, and the biggest reason we should keep them safe and sacred, is they protect us from zombies (Plants vs Zombies Toys Want to Eat Your Money, Not Your Brains). All would do well entertaining gardens in our front or back yards to ward off and eat any zombies that dare approach. We must remember plants are our friends. They can protect us, give us beautiful smells, give us oxygen, life, and love. Such beings must be kept safe in our lives and homes. Eat more chicken! And beef, and pork, and turkey.
