Understanding Ellen White

Ellen White and a vegan diet

One additional aspect of Ellen White’s approach to vegetarianism that needs to be briefly considered is her use of dairy products and eggs. Ellen White’s principal health concern for animal products was disease. This was true of meat, and it was also true of dairy products. Two statements make this clear. “The time may come when it will not be safe to use milk. But if the cows are healthy and the milk thoroughly cooked, there is no necessity of creating a time of trouble beforehand.” ⁵⁴ “If milk is used, it should be thoroughly sterilized; with this precaution, there is less danger of contracting diseases from its use.” ⁵⁵ In her own experience she followed this practice and as far as can be determined, never discarded the use of dairy products. She wrote in 1908 of her practice. “We eat no meat or butter [she used cream instead], and use very little milk in cooking”⁵⁶ D. H. Kress, an Adventist physician, strongly promoted a strict vegan diet. He had personally avoided all meat, dairy, and eggs for an extended period of time. In 1901, he developed some serious health problems and received a letter from Ellen White with the following counsel: UEGW 207.2

When you see that you are becoming weak physically, it is essential for you to make changes, and at once. Put into your diet something you have left out. It is your duty to do this. Get eggs from healthy fowls. Use these eggs cooked or raw. Drop them uncooked into the best unfermented wine you can find. This will supply that which is necessary to your system. ⁵⁷ UEGW 207.3

Though her statements on a vegan diet are mostly tentative, she did write more definitely about the future and the use of dairy products. “The light given me is that it will not be very long before we shall have to give up any animal food. Even milk will have to be discarded. Disease is accumulating rapidly.” ⁵⁸ The determination of when this time has arrived seems to be left to the individual and should not be mandated. It is important to recognize that Ellen White should not be used to definitively argue for a vegan diet. UEGW 208.1