We believe that a kinder world begins with the choices we make every day. Our mission is to inspire compassion through education, advocacy, and community — one meal, one conversation, one heart at a time.
At a glance
Overview
The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, have a long-standing history of seeking peace and equality. This commitment to nonviolence and the recognition of 'That of God' in everyone naturally extends to our relationship with all sentient beings. Early Friends like John Woolman and Anthony Benezet recognized that the flame of life kindled by the Creator exists in all sensitive creatures, making cruelty a contradiction to the love of God.
Modern Quakerism continues this tradition by exploring the interconnectedness of all life. As we endeavor to open ourselves to the Spirit, we find that true understanding leads to compassion and loving action. This realization often manifests at the table, where the choice to abstain from animal products becomes a testimony to the sweetness of life and the kinship we share with our fellow creatures.
By adopting a plant-based diet, Friends honor the Quaker testimonies of Peace, Simplicity, and Integrity. It is an invitation to enlarge our circle of love, recognizing that what we do to the least of these creatures, we do to the Divine in whom all living beings move and have their being.
Principles
The Quaker faith teaches that the flame of life is kindled in all animal and sensitive creatures by the breath of God. To exercise cruelty toward any creature while claiming to love the unseen God is considered a spiritual contradiction.
Friends recognize a deep kinship with animals, viewing them not as objects for use but as fellow creatures. This sense of relationship leads to a natural opposition to practices like vivisection and the consumption of animal flesh.
Quakerism emphasizes walking cheerfully over the world and answering to 'That of God' in every one. Extending this peace to animals involves rejecting the violence inherent in the factory farming system and hunting.
True understanding of the Spirit reveals the interconnectedness of all things. This spiritual relationship demands that our compassion does not end when we sit down to eat, but rather informs every meal.
A central ideal in Quaker advocacy is harmlessness toward all living things. This involves a conscious effort to live in a way that minimizes suffering and honors the sweetness of life in all beings.
Failure to see things as they really are leads to suffering. Friends are called to witness the reality of animal treatment and align their actions with the truth of their compassion.
“To say we love God as unseen, and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by his life... was a contradiction in itself.”
— John Woolman, The Journal and Major Essays
“I considered that life is sweet in all living creatures, and taking it away became a very tender point with me.”
— Joshua Evans, Journal, 1837
“What, would you have me eat my neighbor?”
— Anthony Benezet, responding to an invitation to eat poultry
“A true understanding of that relationship cannot end when we sit down at the table.”
— Margaret Fisher, Enlarging our Circle of Love
“What we do to the hen we do to God, in whom all we chickens and humans and others live and move and have our being.”
— Gracia Fay Ellwood, The Peaceable Table
“I felt a great yearning of heart toward my fellow creatures and much tenderness and compassion for the brute creation.”
— Elizabeth Collins, Journal, 1859
In practice
The seeds of animal advocacy were planted early in the Society of Friends. John Woolman, famous for his opposition to slavery, also wrote extensively about the tenderness he felt for animals. He believed that a mind governed by Divine Love could not find pleasure in the suffering of any creature.
Other historical figures like Anthony Benezet and Elizabeth Collins carried this torch. Benezet famously referred to poultry as his 'neighbor,' refusing to eat them. These early Friends saw the exploitation of animals as a departure from the humble and tender spirit required of a follower of the 'Most High.'
In practice
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Quakers were at the forefront of organized animal protection. Joseph Storrs Fry II and others founded the Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association (now Quaker Concern for Animals) in 1891 to seek justice for animals.
Quaker women have also played pivotal roles. Anna Sewell used literature to improve the treatment of horses, while Ruth Harrison’s research into 'animal machines' alerted the world to the horrors of factory farming. Today, Friends continue this work through education, school presentations, and international campaigns.
In practice
Choosing a vegan lifestyle is a modern expression of the Testimony of Simplicity. It reduces the ecological footprint and addresses social justice issues related to food distribution and planetary health.
By urging Meetings to buy animal-friendly supplies and encouraging Meatless Mondays, Friends practice stewardship of the Earth. This holistic approach recognizes that the suffering of animals, the destruction of the planet, and human health are all deeply linked.
In practice
Early Friends like John Woolman recognized that the 'flame of life' kindled in all sensitive creatures is a direct expression of the Divine. Woolman argued that claiming to love an unseen God while exercising cruelty toward the 'least creature' moving by His life was a fundamental contradiction. This perspective suggests that the Quaker commitment to Truth requires an honest examination of how our daily choices affect the living beings who share in the Spirit.
Joshua Evans, a colleague of Woolman, furthered this by recording in his journal that his faith and obedience were tested until he understood he 'ought no longer to partake of anything that had life.' This historical thread demonstrates that plant-based living is not a modern addition to Quakerism but a long-standing expression of the desire to live in a way that does not cause suffering to others.
In practice
The Quaker Peace Testimony is often applied to human conflict, yet many Friends have extended this to the 'brute creation.' Elizabeth Collins spoke of a 'great yearning of heart' and compassion for animals, viewing them as fellow creatures deserving of tenderness. This sense of kinship suggests that the peace we seek to build in the world must include our relationship with the animal kingdom, moving beyond mere avoidance of war to a proactive harmlessness.
Stephen Hobhouse reflected this sentiment in the 20th century, noting that his vegetarianism was rooted in feelings of kinship and an opposition to practices like vivisection. By recognizing animals as 'persons of consequence'—individuals who matter in themselves—Friends align their diets with the belief that what is done to the least of these is done to the Divine in whom all beings live and move.
In practice
Margaret Fisher emphasizes that true understanding is the root of compassion, which inevitably leads to loving action. When we fail to see the reality of how animals are treated in modern systems, we contribute to the suffering in the world. Opening ourselves to the Spirit allows us to feel the interconnectedness of all things, a realization that Fisher notes 'cannot end when we sit down at the table.'
This clarity of vision helps Friends overcome the 'failure to see things as they really are.' By acknowledging the inherent value of conscious beings, such as the 'all-mothering presence' found even in a hen, the community can transition from abstract ideals of kindness to the concrete practice of a plant-based lifestyle that honors the sacredness of all life.
In practice
Quakers have a storied history of leading social reforms, and this extends to animal welfare. Anna Sewell’s 'Black Beauty' was a landmark work that improved the treatment of horses globally, while Joseph Storrs Fry II helped found the Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association. These figures saw their advocacy not as a separate hobby, but as a direct outworking of their Quaker values of mercy and justice.
In the United States, Caroline Earle White founded the Women’s Humane Society and campaigned against the slaughter of birds for fashion. Her commitment to vegetarianism set her apart from many activists of her time, showing a holistic approach to non-violence. Modern Friends continue this work through organizations like Quaker Concern for Animals, which seeks justice for animals in all areas of life.
In practice
The relationship between humans and the earth is often viewed through the lens of stewardship and mutual care. Stephen Hobhouse noted his compassion even for the 'little creatures' he encountered as a gardener, highlighting that a Quaker's interaction with nature should be marked by sensitivity. This extends to the food we grow and consume, favoring systems that harmonize with the earth rather than exploit it.
By choosing plant-based foods, Friends honor the 'sister seeds' and 'brother rain' mentioned in Quaker poetry. This approach views the earth as a provider of 'rainbows of flowers and fruits that meet our needs,' suggesting that a simple, plant-derived diet is the most direct way to live in harmony with the 'Love embracing all creation.'
Food
Vegan Meeting-wide dinners are recommended as a primary way to reach hearts through stomachs.
Vegan chocolate (honoring the legacy of the Fry family).
Plant-based potluck dishes for Quarterly and Yearly Meetings.
Fruits and vegetables as 'Rainbows of flowers, and fruits that meet our needs' (Canticle of Creation).
Meatless Monday recipes shared in Meeting newsletters.
Plant-based versions of traditional Quaker simple meals.
Quaker potlucks often emphasize simple, wholesome grains and seasonal vegetables, reflecting the Testimony of Simplicity.
Vegan 'Meeting-wide dinners' are recommended as a way to reach hearts through the stomach, showing that compassionate eating is abundant and joyful.
Traditional chocolate-making families like the Frys have a history of philanthropy; modern Friends can honor this by choosing fair-trade, vegan cocoa products.
The 'Canticle of Creation' celebrates fruits and seeds as the intended gifts for our needs, supporting a diet centered on the earth's natural bounty.
Arguments
These are not arguments against religion; they are arguments made by practising Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Pagans and Quakers about what their own commitments imply once industrial animal agriculture is described honestly.
Every scripture quoted on these pages was written in a world of small herds, named animals and visible slaughter. None of them contemplated seventy billion land animals a year in windowless sheds. Believers who go plant-based rarely claim to have found a hidden vegan verse — they argue that the old rule of mercy, applied to a genuinely new system, produces a new answer.
Common to every tradition covered here.
Kosher and halal law, and the Hindu and Buddhist expectations around the life of a cow or a bird, all presuppose an animal that was fed, watered, rested and handled without cruelty before death. Industrial rearing violates that precondition long before the knife. A growing number of rabbis, imams and pandits argue that the requirement therefore fails at the farm even where the slaughterhouse is certified.
The traditional gentle picture — milk freely given, eggs simply gathered — described a household animal. Modern dairy involves annual insemination and the removal of calves; modern laying involves the killing of male chicks. Traditions that permit dairy on the grounds that it costs the animal nothing are, on their own logic, obliged to look at what it costs her now.
Feeding the stranger appears as an obligation in nearly every tradition: langar, iftar, the parish supper, prasadam, the Sabbath table. A plant-based table is the most inclusive one available — no guest is excluded by kashrut, halal, caste custom, allergy or conscience. Communities that make the switch usually discover that hospitality got easier, not harder.
Animal agriculture is a leading driver of deforestation, freshwater use and greenhouse emissions. Traditions that teach the earth is entrusted to us — from Laudato Si' to the Zoroastrian duty to keep water and soil unpolluted — increasingly treat diet as part of that trust rather than a private preference.
Several traditions treat the body as something held in trust: Adventists have taught a plant-based diet for over a century, and their longevity data is among the most studied in nutrition science. Where scripture asks believers to guard their health, well-planned plant-based eating is one of the few dietary patterns with strong evidence behind it.
Action
Objections
Every community raises roughly the same questions. None of them are unreasonable, and none of them are new. Here is how practitioners inside these traditions usually answer.
Usually, yes — permission is not the same as a command, and almost every tradition frames that permission as a concession hedged with conditions: gratitude, restraint, avoidance of cruelty, limits on when and how. Plant-based believers argue that when those conditions can no longer be met, the permission no longer applies in practice.
Most traditions with a sacrificial history no longer practise animal sacrifice, and their own reformers argued against it long ago — the Hebrew prophets, early Christian teachers, Buddhist and Jain critiques of Vedic ritual. Choosing plants is generally presented as continuing that internal argument, not rejecting the tradition.
Congregations that start with food rather than doctrine report the opposite. Adding good plant-based dishes to a shared meal excludes nobody; removing everything at once and lecturing about it divides quickly. Every kit recommends the first approach.
Nearly every kit includes plant-based versions of the specific festival foods of its tradition, developed by cooks from inside that community, precisely because the meaning of the dish lives in the occasion and the recipe rather than the animal.
Slaughterhouse work is among the most dangerous and most exploitative employment in industrialised countries, intensive farms concentrate pollution in the poorest neighbourhoods, and grain fed to livestock competes with human food. Faith-based advocates tend to present this as one justice question, not two.
Major dietetic associations state that well-planned plant-based diets are appropriate at every stage of life, including pregnancy, infancy and old age, with attention to vitamin B12 and a few other nutrients. Communities usually ask a dietitian to review the menus they serve.
Many have simply never been asked. The kits behind these pages exist because clergy requested material they could read, check against their own sources and preach from. Bringing one of them to a leader is a normal and welcome request, not a challenge.
No tradition here demands perfection, and several explicitly warn against the pride that chases it. The consistent counsel is direction of travel: one meal, one meeting, one festival at a time.
Get started
Almost every advocacy kit recommends the same unglamorous sequence. It works because it starts with hospitality rather than argument.
Make a single monthly gathering fully plant-based, cooked by people who cook well. Nothing persuades like a good lunch that nobody expected to enjoy.
Plant milk beside the tea urn, a vegan option on every table, labelled clearly. No announcements required.
A rabbi, imam, priest, monk, granthi or Friend who eats this way and can explain it from your own sources carries further than any outside campaigner.
Run a short study series on the passages about animals in your own scripture. Let people reach their own conclusions with the sources in front of them.
Review what the community buys: leather, silk, wool, down, animal-tested products, and the charities it supports. Small procurement changes outlast enthusiasm.
Resources
Questions
Shared threads
Long before anyone used the word vegan, every tradition on this page had a word for refusing to cause needless harm. Those words are not interchangeable — each carries its own history, law and practice — but placed side by side they show how widely shared the underlying instinct is.
| Word | Tradition | What it asks of us |
|---|---|---|
| Ahimsa | Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism | Non-injury in thought, word and deed — the first vow, and the measure against which every other practice is judged. |
| Tza'ar ba'alei chayim | Judaism | The prohibition on causing distress to living creatures, a Torah-level obligation that overrides considerable convenience and cost. |
| Rahma | Islam | Mercy — the attribute by which God is named at the opening of almost every chapter of the Qur'an, and which the Prophet extended explicitly to animals. |
| Stewardship / dominion as care | Christianity | Responsibility for creation modelled on a shepherd rather than an owner: the animals are entrusted, not surrendered. |
| Daya | Sikhism | Compassion as one of the five virtues, expressed daily in langar — a free meal served to anyone, traditionally meat-free so that nobody is excluded. |
| Metta / karuna | Buddhism | Lovingkindness and compassion cultivated deliberately towards all sentient beings, including those who end up on plates. |
| Testimony of peace | Quakers | A refusal to participate in violence that many Friends have extended from war to the systematic killing of animals. |
| Asha / good thoughts, words, deeds | Zoroastrianism | Alignment with truth and right order, including care for the good creation of water, earth, plants and animals. |
Swipe sideways to read the full table.