Rat & Swan > wrote in message >...
<snip>
> Because spraying with pesticides may not result in animal deaths --

It will most certainly result in animal deaths, as insects are
animals. Frogs, lizards, birds, and other small animals in the field
may also die. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, but I think we
have to be honest here.

> the application of pesticides is not inherently wrong, because it
> does not _in itself_ cause any harm to a being with rights. When
> you add "crop field" to the question, you add another aspect: the
> side effect of the action. If I were to grow a vegetable or other
> plant in a greenhouse or in my home, and spray it with pesticide to
> kill a fungus or an insect infestation (I don't believe insects
> have rights), that would not, IMO, be wrong.

I don't think it would be wrong either. Fungi aren't animals or
plants, by the way. They're in a separate kingdom. BTW does your
comment in regards to insects mean you eat honey? I'm just curious
because many vegans don't eat honey.

> If there is another
> option, such as the use of ladybugs to eat harmful insect pests,
> that would, of course, be preferable to using chemical poisons.

At least the damage would be more targeted toward the insects.

> Enclosing the vegetables to keep out animals would be another
> possible option. IMO, the farmer has an obligation to use the least
> destructive methods to protect his crop that he can, whether against
> humans, non-human animals, or "weeds" -- not only so as
> to avoid poisoning humans or animals, but to avoid polluting the
> environment. Humans becomes CDs too, either directly, or through
> environmental pollution. That is why I buy locally-grown organic
> produce whenever possible.

Of course, you realize that organic produce actually produces less per
farm than mass-produced fruits and vegetables, right? It may be more
healthy or tasty for an individual to eat organic, but if all farmers
followed these methods, there would be massive crop losses, and that
would result in more world hunger.

I'm not against organic farming though at all, I think it's a good
thing, but I don't think that most farms should take it up.