Concerning the food. Whenever in a healthy condition and with appetite one is hungry, he must eat and partake of the food with the utmost thankfulness. This is Divine Standard!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1913-Nov-20, to Agnes S Parsons -- AB01119)
Food and diet: gratitude at the table
consumption of meat; vegetarianism; diet
Editorial introduction
Hunger satisfied with thankfulness is, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, a divine standard, and the plate in front of us turns out to be a fair place to ask what mercy, freedom and fellowship require. He teaches that the human body was not built for a carnivore’s life, that a lamb’s feelings are as real as our own, and that contentment with grain, fruit, oil and nuts is closer to compassion; yet he laughs off requests for a prescribed regimen, allows meat where health or habit requires it, and notes that the Prophets withhold a prohibition people could not yet bear. The subject refuses to become a badge of superiority. Paul, writing to the Romans about believers who ate differently, asked each side to stop despising and judging the other [1], and the same spirit shows in the hospitality offered to a guest whose religion shaped what he could eat. Stories of potatoes and unfamiliar tastes show how slowly habits move. From the table the inquiry widens into health and healing, the hope that medicine will one day work through food, and the kindness owed to animals.
Selected passages
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Jun-16, to Edwin Fisher -- AB01104)
Question: What is the relative effect of vegetable and animal foods upon the mind of man or spirit of man?
'Abdu'l-Baha said: "It has no effect. It does not develop the mind to subsist upon a vegetable diet. A man can be without reason or understanding, though he does not eat meat or flesh, and again one eats flesh but his mind is very sharp.
"The more man avoids hurting the animal the better. It is very strange that a man should kill an animal for his food, but since meat is in the market one buys it. It is indeed very grievous to kill a lamb or other animal for one's food, for the feelings of an animal are just as great as our own.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Mr and Mrs Hannen, spoken on 1909-Feb-25 -- ABU2764)
Meats that are desirable and wholesome may be eaten, while abhorrent meats are forbidden. The House of Justice must determine this according to wisdom. And if one were to be satisfied with vegetarian food, that would certainly be closer to mercy and compassion.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Natiq, Aqa Mirza Muhammad et al -- AB03552)
[At the table on board the Cedric Abdul-Baha spoke about simple diet--how much better it is for one's constitution to eat but one or two courses. One of the American Bahais asked him whether he would not prescribe a simple regime of diet for the believers, upon his arrival in America. He laughed heartily and said:]
"We do not interfere with their material food, but we shall give them a simple diet of spiritual food. This is our work."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on board the SS Cedric at sea, 1912-Apr-06 -- ABU3478)
While I was in America one of the believers by the name Mon. Bourgeois of New York City who is a vegetarian invited me to dinner. Such nutritious dishes were prepared with nuts and vegetables and rice that any one could easily dispense with meat-eating. I said to Mon and Madame Bourgeois of you can concoct such delicious dishes with vegetables and nuts I can assure you many people will join your crusade against slaughtering animals and eating their flesh.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the friends, spoken on 1914-Mar-27 -- ABU0371)
If one should wholly abstain from meat and be contented with vegetables, it would be much better. And how difficult it is for a man to kill an animal and to prepare the food for himself. But as it is already killed and we find it in the market, we buy it. … If the people could bear it, the prophets would prohibit the eating of flesh.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Wilson, Engelhorn, Stewart, Brittingham, spoken around 1909-Oct-23 -- ABU0714)
The truth is that it is not befitting for man to be carnivorous. However, man has accustomed himself to such a life and now it has become routine and acceptable. That is why its prohibition is not advisable at present.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. 1904, from notes of Youness Khan Afroukhteh -- ABU3299)
If one can content oneself with vegetables for one's sustenance, this would be preferable, for the food of humanity consists in vegetables. However, given the great extent to which people have become accustomed to their ways of life, it is not possible for them to abstain from eating animals.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1913-Jan-19 in London -- ABU3680)
When the Blessed Beauty stated that if someone does not slaughter animals and is content with vegetables it is certainly better, He did not prohibit it because it is impossible for humans not to consume animals, since in every water, plant and fruit there exist animals which humans cannot avoid consuming - the only difference is in degree of strength and weakness.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to a visitor, spoken at Baltimore Hotel on 1913-May-17 -- ABU3023)
God has appointed provision for every living creature. To birds He has given beaks so that they may pick up seeds. To animals such as cows and goats He has given teeth like scythes in order that they may eat grass. To carnivores He has given claws like forks and canine teeth so that they may prey because they cannot eat grass. Their food is meat. But man's food is not meat for he has not been created with means to eat flesh. God has given him beauty of form and has created him blessed and not rapacious and bloodthirsty.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the Baha'is, spoken on 1912-Sep-26 -- ABU1819)
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Dec or <, to William Jay Moore -- AB00162)
This kind of food is not Persian. It is European, except that there is one Persian dish - the sweetened rice. At first there were no potatoes in Persia. This is something new with the Persians-imported from Europe. At first the Persians did not take kindly to the potato, saying it was an apple of Europe, because of their fanaticism.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Arthur Agnew et al, spoken on 1907-Apr-14 -- ABU1857)
I said, "What is kosher that you may eat? Is bread kosher?" He said yes. I said, "Are sugar, water and lemon juice kosher?" He said yes. I said, "Are eggs kosher?" He said, "If I boil them, yes they are kosher." They brought a coffee pot and I gave him boiled eggs to eat. He said, "I must boil them myself." They boiled the coffee pot again and he himself cooked the eggs and ate them.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. Jan. 1909 -- ABU0910)
Sometimes material food confers spiritual sustenance and strength.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Ali-Kuli Khan spoken in 1900 -- ABU3628)
But eating meat is not forbidden or unlawful, nay, the point is this, that it is possible for man to live without eating meat and still be strong. Meat is nourishing and containeth the elements of herbs, seeds and fruits; therefore sometimes it is essential for the sick and for the rehabilitation of health. There is no objection in the Law of God to the eating of meat if it is required. So if thy constitution is rather weak and thou findest meat useful, thou mayest eat it.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Sep-03, to Edwin Fisher -- AB03370)
'Abdu'l-Baha said, "If someone has never eaten meat and is not used to it, even passing by a butcher shop, the smell of meat is so bad and offensive that it disturbs them. But those who are accustomed to it hardly notice." And the Blessed Beauty, considering that humanity has become accustomed to eating meat and it has become very common, did not forbid it, but said "humans were not created to be meat-eaters."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the friends, spoken on 1915-Apr-09 -- ABU0329)
Fruit and grains. The time will come when meat will no longer be eaten. Medical science is only in its infancy, yet it has shown that our natural diet is that which grows out of the ground. The people will gradually develop up to the condition of this natural food.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Julia Grundy spoken around Jan. 1905 -- ABU3261)
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How might gratitude change the way a person obtains, prepares, shares, or consumes food?
- What distinction do these readings draw between showing mercy to animals and making diet a measure of another person’s spiritual worth?
- How does the account of accommodating a guest’s food practice illuminate Paul’s counsel about judgment in Romans 14?
- What do the stories about potatoes, familiar tastes, and shared meals suggest about how habits change?
- How could moderation, hospitality, and compassion guide a conversation in which people make different dietary choices?