The Poor “Grass Eaters”
A century ago, when she began to write against grease of all kinds, she also began to write against “flesh meats.” Sometimes the two are indicted in the same sentence (see Testimonies for the Church 2:45). But at that time both doctors and laymen here in America and other countries where meat was readily available seemed to feel that a person simply could not have a good diet without meat. It was thought that to abstain from it would make one anemic, pale, weak. Loud were the declarations of brawny, hard-working men that “meat and potatoes” were the real staples of life. Seventh-day Adventists who, guided by Mrs. White’s counsel, largely turned from meat, came to be known by many as “grass eaters.” But the years have rolled by with time and research relentlessly moving on to the devastation of delightful phrases and the undermining of long-cherished dietary ideas. Our very modern time has opened up the wide field of the importance of vitamins and minerals, to say nothing of other areas of research. The result is that today nutritionists inform us that green-leafed vegetables are indispensable to a good diet. But research has gone further and now informs us that one can have a diet ideal for optimum health without eating any meat. And so the delightful phrase “grass eaters” had to be buried, gently wrapped in a shroud of lettuce leaves.WBEGW 47.2
Speaking of colorful names, there was another one—note the past tense—that was often applied to Seventh-day Adventists, that is, “bran eaters.” This was a further instance where Adventists acquired a name because of giving attention to Mrs. White and her counsels. Back in 1868 she began to write in favor of whole-wheat bread. At that time she said: “Fine-flour bread cannot impart to the system the nourishment that you will find in the unbolted wheat bread. The common use of bolted wheat bread cannot keep the system in a healthy condition.”—Testimonies for the Church 2:68. In other words, Mrs. White was speaking out against removing the bran from the flour. She declared there was a certain nutritional value in it. We believed her and proceeded accordingly. And for our pains we came to be known by many as “bran eaters.” Full confirmation of her position in regard to whole-wheat flour did not really come until about 1940, when research that had largely been kept within the confines of laboratories began to break out over the land. Said scientists, there are vital minerals in the bran, indispensable minerals. And so as America made ready for World War II, one of the steps taken was to reintroduce into white flour certain of the important minerals of which it had been robbed by the removal of the bran. Thus today we have “enriched flour.” Not many years after this a large delegation of Adventist leaders gathered for a general meeting in the city of Battle Creek, which had formerly been the denomination’s headquarters. Commenting on the convention, a newspaper columnist in the city remarked that they had some interesting people in their midst this week who formerly were called “grass eaters” and “bran eaters” by those who today are solicitous that their grandchildren have whole-wheat mush for breakfast and spinach for dinner. In a sense, through eating enriched flour, men everywhere today are becoming bran eaters. We welcome them to our circle.WBEGW 48.1
When Mrs. White first began to write on the subject of health in the 1860’s the common notion was that “night air” was bad. What did people really mean by that? We do not profess to know. It sounds a little ludicrous. But they firmly believed it and accordingly closed their windows. Mrs. White rose up and declared that windows should be thrown open, that fresh air was vital to good health. Men and women shivered at the very idea of it even more than they did at the cool air that might come through the open window. It is hard to understand that attitude now, but if we could transport ourselves back to the 1860’s we would shiver along with the occupants of the homes as they read Mrs. White’s appeal to open the windows. See her article, “Disease and Its Causes” in How to Live, No. 3 (1865). We need hardly add that the age of “bad night air” has ended. We live in a day when fresh air is considered indispensable to good health—fresh air both night and day.WBEGW 49.1