The conclusion which he drew, or pretended to draw, was that if it was sinful to kill and eat animals, it was not less sinful to do the like by vegetables, or their seeds. None such, he said, should be eaten, except what had died a natural death, such as fruit that was lying on the ground and about to rot, or cabbage-leaves that had turned yellow in late autumn. These and other like garbage he declared to be the only food that might be eaten with a clear conscience. Even so the eater must plant the pips of any apples or pears that he may have eaten, or any plum-stones, cherrystones and the like, or he would come near to incurring the guilt of infanticide. The grain of cereals, according to him, was out of the question, for ever such grain had a living soul as much as man had, and had as good a right as man to possess that soul in peace.
– Samuel Butler