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Credits/Sources: “Healthy Plant-Based EatingTips” https://texas-food-handler.com/nutrition/healthy-plant-based-eatingtips;
We at PeapodLife have made it a point of posting many articles indicating the consciousness of plants. The latest comes from Business Insider, Researchers Have Found That Plants Know They Are Being Eaten.“Vegans and Vegetarians take note... If the sole purpose of your diet is to completely avoid the sacrifice of other species, then you should become breatharians.”
In it, Modern Farmer references a study by the University of Missouri which indicates plants are able to sense when they are being eaten and activate defense mechanisms in an attempt to save themselves.
In the study, audio recordings were made of caterpillars eating Arabidopsis better known as thale cress, a member of the brassica family which includes such plants as broccoli, kale, mustard greens. According to the article, scientists like thale cress because it was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, and they believe they are very familiar with how it works.
The researchers made other recordings of natural vibrations—such as wind noise—which the plant may encounter in nature. The purpose being to see if the plant would demonstrate the same response to other naturally occurring vibrations in the same way it reacted to the sound of munching caterpillars.
As it turns out, the thale cress produces mildly toxic mustard oils only when exposed to the rhythms of hungry caterpillars making a meal out of them. The toxins are sent to the leaves by the plant in an effort to make itself less palatable (if not outright poisonous) to the unwanted dinner guests.
"Previous research has investigated how plants respond to acoustic energy, including music. However, our work is the first example of how plants respond to an ecologically relevant vibration. We found that feeding vibrations signal changes in the plant cells' metabolism, creating more defensive chemicals that can repel attacks from caterpillars"said Heidi Appel, senior research scientist in the Division of Plant Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the Bond Life Sciences Center at MU."
Source: Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: Plants Know When They're Being Eaten and They Don't Appreciate it
What should feeling plants mean to us? Earlier, we discussed how plants could sense pain, danger, and now it seems, when they’re being consumed. So what? Why should we care?
It’s all about out our relationship with the world around us and with nature.
A generation ago, most children were raised to “say Grace” before a meal. Why? Why did we do that? In part, it’s to show humility, reverence, respect and give thanks to whatever Force(s) we believe are behind the universe, our planet, and our lives.
On a practical level, it’s to give thanks for the sacrifice of the beings giving their lives in that moment for us. And by recognizing their contribution to ourselves (their bodies literally become our bodies—“we are what we eat”), any ill-intended defense mechanisms will have far less effects on us.
As it happens, many people develop spontaneous allergies to all kinds of foods. Sometimes, to their favourite foods overtime. In retrospect, we guarantee such individuals will find that they consumed such foods unconsciously, mechanically, with little or no regard whatsoever to the spirit of the animal or plant being consumed.
Without such reverence, with only a pure mechanical interaction, there was no superior ray of energy to negate the lower frequency vibrations present in the defense mechanisms of the food being consumed. Once the body “had its fill” of whatever mildly toxic compound it was being exposed to over and over again mechanically, it simply became and developed a corresponding overreaction to even a tiny amount of it.
Being in reverence and awe of Mother Nature is always a good thing, especially when we are taking from her bounty.
PeapodLife Ecosystems are all about elevating our conscious awareness and appreciation for Mother Nature by allowing us to commune with Her in Her highest expression: high-order Rainforest Ecosystems. By becoming more sensitive to, more attentive of, and more appreciative of the life of ecosystems, we become more sensitive, attentive and appreciative of ourselves and others…all beings.
Sensitivity, conscious awareness and appreciation have been accepted practices of inner peace and happiness since the days of ancient mystery schools to modern-day self-help gurus. It’s a path to a healthier, happier mind body spirit connection. Reason enough start living the PeapodLife.
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