The Ministry of Healing (1905)

AUTHOR: White, Ellen Gould Harmon

SUMMARY (Bryn Skibo, edited Deborah Madsen)

White’s theories link the sacred nature of the body and the morality of healthy eating to the morality of caring for God’s creatures. Thus, eating a meat-free diet, as well as avoiding eggs, milk, and cheese, maintains mental, physical, and spiritual health and is morally healthy because it protects the animals from a life of suffering and the cruelty of slaughter. She cites the diseases animals contract in transport, the spread of that disease, and the cruelty of the conditions of transport to slaughterhouses.

In her discussion of “Health Principles” White addresses dress and dress reform. The body that God has provided should be rendered healthy, and that is beautiful. Extra money spent on clothing for the sole interest to attract the attention of others is wrong, for that money could have been spent to clothe others or to feed others. To shape the body with corsets and tight lacing renders it useless and unhealthy, and therefore unable to do the work set out by God. What is beautiful is symmetrical, and this is not achieved by corsets or lacing. Clothing should not cover too much so as to be too hot, nor cover too little; it is because women often are under-dressed that they are fall sick and even die (293).

Diet and Health: “Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet” (296). She cites Genesis 1.29: “Behold I have given you every herb…” (296). “Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in which we live, and to the occupation we follow” (297). “Nut and nut foods are coming largely into use to take the place of flesh meats. With nuts may be combined grains, fruits, and some roots, to make foods that are healthful and nourishing. Care should be taken, however, not to use too large a proportion of nuts” (298).

Olive oil is preferable to animal oil or fat (298). Due to increased international trade, there is now an “opportunity to select a dietary that is complete without the use of flesh-meats” (299). White advocates against using milk in bread (it ferments more easily) and the “free use of milk and sugar taken together should be avoided,” as in custards and puddings (302). “If milk is used, it should be thoroughly sterilized; with this precaution, there is less danger of contracting disease from its use. Butter is less harmful when eaten on cold bread than when used in cooking; but, as a rule, it is better to dispense with it altogether. Cheese is still more objectionable; it is wholly unfit for food” (302). Salt should be avoided, as should pickled and spiced foods (305). Cooking should be avoided on the Sabbath, as should over-eating (307). “Abstemiousness in diet is rewarded with mental and moral vigour; it also aids in the control of the passions. Overeating is especially hard to those who are sluggish in temperament; these should eat sparingly, …” (308). “A disordered stomach produces a disordered, uncertain state of mind” (310). “Our bodies are Christ’s purchased possessions, and we are not at liberty to do with them as we please. All who understand the laws of health should realize their obligation to obey these laws, which God has established in their being” (210).

“Food as Flesh”: God initially intended for Man to eat vegetables and fruit in Eden; animal food was only made available after everything had been destroyed (311); similarly, the Israelites were provided, on leaving Egypt, with a vegetarian diet rather than the “flesh-pots” of Egypt” (311). White stresses the physical dangers of, and diseases from, consuming the flesh of animals transported miles without adequate care and the transmission of disease in fish who eat from drains (314-315). However, the moral dangers are just as serious: “The moral evils of a flesh diet are not less marked than are the physical ills. Flesh food is injurious to health, and whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and the soul. Think of the cruelty to animals that meat-eating involves, and its effect on those who inflict and those who behold it. How it destroyed the tenderness with which we should regard these creatures of God!” (315) “The intelligence displayed by many dumb animals approaches so closely to human intelligence that it is a mystery. The animals see and hear and love and fear and suffer. They use their organs far more faithfully than many human beings use theirs. They manifest sympathy and tenderness toward their companions in suffering. Many animals show affection for those who have charge of them, far superior to the affection shown by some of the human race. They form attachments for man which are not broken without great suffering to them” (315-316). She asks, “What man with a human heart, who has ever cared for domestic animals, could look into their eyes, so full of confidence and affection, and willingly give them over to the butcher’s knife? How could he devour their flesh as a sweet morsel?” (315-16).

“Changing the Diet” addresses the difficulties of changing dietary behavior. In poorer countries, flesh food is often the cheapest food available (316), thus efforts should be made to make available inexpensive healthful plant food. The primary reason to stop eating flesh is to become “pure, refined, and holy” (317): “How can they take the life of God’s creatures that they may consume the flesh as a luxury? Let them, rather, return to the wholesome and delicious food given to man in the beginning, and themselves practise, and teach their children to practise, mercy toward the dumb creatures that God has made and has placed under our dominion” (317).

“Stimulants and Narcotics”: “In this fast age, the less exciting the food, the better. Condiments are injurious in their nature” (325). She opposes the consumption of tea and coffee (326-327), tobacco (327-330), alcohol (330-331), wine, beer, and cider (332-334), and promotes Temperance as a personal responsibility (335).