The short answer
Friends have no central dietary creed, but the peace testimony, simplicity, truthful discernment and “that of God” in every person have inspired an unusually long animal-concern tradition. Vegan Friends ask whether peace can stop at the slaughterhouse door.
In short
- John Woolman connected love of the unseen God with tenderness toward living creatures. His concern is historically secure, though Quaker vegetarianism has never been universal.
- Silent worship invites corporate discernment rather than top-down rules. A meeting minute on animals should emerge from patient process, not pressure masquerading as consensus.
- Ruth Harrison’s Animal Machines helped expose intensive farming and influenced modern welfare reform. This makes factory farming part of Quaker social history, not an imported concern.
- Simplicity asks whether convenience and appetite justify systems hidden from view. Peace testimony links means and ends, while humility guards against judging members at different stages.
History and doctrine
The Religious Society of Friends has no creed but shares testimonies — often summarised as simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and sustainability (SPICES). Quakers believe there is 'that of God in every one' and seek guidance through silent worship and discernment in meetings.
Early Friends applied these convictions to animals. John Woolman (1720–1772), the anti-slavery Quaker, refused to travel by stagecoach because of cruelty to horses and wrote that to 'say we love God as unseen, and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature… was a contradiction in itself'. Benjamin Lay, another abolitionist Friend, was vegetarian and refused products of exploitation. In Britain, Quakers helped found the RSPCA's early predecessors and campaigned against blood sports.
Today Quaker Concern for Animals (UK) and Quakers in several yearly meetings include diet in sustainability commitments; Britain Yearly Meeting's 2011 minute on becoming a low-carbon, sustainable community prompted many meetings to review catering.
Key texts and how they are read
- John Woolman, Journal (1772)
- Cruelty to 'the least creature' contradicts love of God — a founding text for Quaker animal ethics.
- Britain Yearly Meeting, Canterbury Commitment (2011)
- A corporate commitment to sustainability which many meetings apply to food.
- Quaker Faith & Practice 25.01–25.05
- Readings on stewardship and the unity of creation.
Quaker testimonies apply to how we treat animals
Supported by Woolman and a long tradition.
Simplicity and sustainability favour plant-based food
Widely argued; each meeting discerns its practice.
Quakers must be vegetarian
There is no Quaker rule; discernment is individual and corporate.
Positions within the tradition
Each Friend decides
Personal discernment
Diet is a matter of conscience tested in worship.
Plant-based by default
Sustainable meeting
Meetings adopt vegetarian or vegan catering as part of sustainability.
Recognise that of God in animals
Animal testimony
Some Friends argue for extending the testimonies explicitly to animals.
Testing the tradition against modern production
Woolman practised what might now be called supply-chain ethics: he refused dyed cloth made with slave labour and questioned luxury that depended on oppression. Friends who apply the same habit to food ask how animals, workers and land were treated, not just whether a meal is tasty or cheap.
Integrity asks whether one's actions match professed values; a meeting that minutes concern for creation while serving battery-cage eggs may be moved to reconsider.
From principle to community practice
- Start with one well-sourced study session led with someone rooted in the tradition, including a serious dissenting voice.
- Make plant-based food the normal shared option while providing clear ingredient and allergen information.
- Review dairy, eggs, clothing, cleaning supplies, events and investments rather than treating one meal as the whole ethic.
- Pair personal change with support for workers, farmers in transition, sanctuaries and policies that reduce institutional harm.
Inside the kit: voices, devotion and resources
The Quaker kit frames animal concern through the testimonies of peace, simplicity and integrity and through a long, non-uniform history of Friends’ advocacy.
Tradition-specific practices
- Begin with shared vegan meals, newsletter notices and library resources, then season a meeting minute.
- Move from Meatless Monday toward broader change at the meeting’s own pace.
- Choose sanctuary visits, cruelty-free supplies and nonviolent outings.
Named voices and communities
- John Woolman, Joshua Evans, Elizabeth Collins, Anthony Benezet and Stephen Hobhouse
- Anna Sewell, Joseph Storrs Fry, Caroline Earle White, Ruth Harrison, Marian Hussenbux and Margaret Fisher
- Gracia Fay and Robert Ellwood; Quaker Concern for Animals, founded in 1891
Prayer, ritual and reflection
- The kit includes short poems, hymns and the Circle of Compassion prayer network.
- Silence and corporate discernment matter more than importing a fixed creed.
Books, films and organisations
Kit resources
- Journeys of Compassion; Living by Voices We Shall Never Hear; Are Animals Our Neighbors?; The Peaceable Table.
- Peaceable Kingdom, The Witness, Earthlings, Cowspiracy and sanctuary resources.
Limits of the argument
- Vegetarian or vegan discernment is not a universal Quaker testimony; historical voices should not be made to answer modern questions they never addressed.
Serious objections
Quakers avoid imposing rules
Plant-based catering is not a creed; it is a corporate discernment, like accessibility or fair-trade tea.
Simplicity means cheap food
Simplicity means freedom from excess and clutter, not choosing whatever harms most because it costs least.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Quaker 'concern'?
A deep leading tested by a meeting; animal concern has been recognised by Friends for centuries.
How could a meeting begin?
Hold a threshing or discernment session, then try plant-based shared lunches for a season and review.
Is there a Quaker animal group?
Quaker Concern for Animals in Britain has worked since 1891 under earlier names.
Continue from within the tradition
Take these questions to a qualified teacher, leader or practitioner who knows both the tradition and your community.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- 01John Woolman, Journal and Major Essays
- 02Joshua Evans, Journal
- 03Margaret Fisher, Enlarging Our Circle of Love
- 04Quaker Concern for Animals archives
- 05Gracia Fay Ellwood, Taking the Adventure
- 06Ruth Harrison, Animal Machines
- 07The Peaceable Table journal
- 08John Woolman, Journal (1772)
- 09Britain Yearly Meeting, Canterbury Commitment (2011)
- 10Quaker Faith & Practice 25.01–25.05
References are given so readers can check them in the primary sources. Hadith gradings and scholarly positions are summarised in good faith; where a text is disputed we say so. Verify before you rely on anything here.
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