As one vegan (we don't all think the same) I can say yes, I absolutely recognize the issues of how we control plants. I mention it tangentially in this other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25211083

I sense that some vegans give the impression that it's totally OK to eat plants, and there are no repercussions. Or maybe that's what meat eaters think vegans are saying. In my experience as a vegan, it's not about plants versus meat. It's about let's be more aware about the impact of our daily actions and strive towards optimal decisions. (As I mention in the other comment) when I consider the health, environmental, ethical, and maybe even spiritual benefits of veganism, it clearly seems like a more optimal general strategy, both for myself and for the world.

Have you ever raised a garden or slaughtered an animal?

I would never hold it against you if you had not, I didn't for the first decades of my life, but anyone who has done both of those things and tries to equate them is not being intellectually honest. Or has the emotional capacity of a potato, which I posit is strictly less than the emotional capacity of a chicken.

Again, if you haven't done either of those things, that is OK. I do however encourage others to do so, because I have gained so much appreciation and understanding for what it takes to keep individuals, and therefore the world, fed.

Both actually. I worked at a slaughterhouse during my summers while at University.

Plants aren't strictly for eating. You use them in everything from building houses to all of the furniture in your house.

Just curious, but what would you rank the emotional capacity of a chicken? Because honestly it's basically non-existent from what I can tell.

I would rank it something like [all plants] < chicken < human. Chickens may not cry over spilt milk, but they do experience fear.

Sorry, just saw this. Yes. The ethical issues for me are smaller, but they're not nonexistent. This is especially true when we look at the environmental effects of large-scale agriculture.