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[–] 18 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Would this render figs off limits for vegans and vegetarians? 🤔

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    No because it's entirely voluntary on the wasps part

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    But could the wasp ever really choose not to enter the fig?

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago

    Vegetarian is fine, there is no flesh. Vegetarianism is typically a dietary restriction, rather than a philosophical one.

    Vegan: it depends. Cultivating figs may be seen as expotation, like bee's honey is; regardless of the insect's actual life or wellbeing. Each individual person decides what counts as vegan.

    I don't see the point in this level of specificity, because by eating anything at all you consume fungal spores, tiny mites, microbes etc. Plants are also alive. So there is clearly a line where life is permittably consumed.

    If 'experiencing suffering' is that line, insects do not seem capable of it, only responding to basic stimuli. I once watched a one trying to eat its own partially severed head, turning it in its front legs while its mouth parts rapidly twitched. It evidently had no comprehension.

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