There is a lot of confusion over exactly what the Word of Wisdom asks in regard to eating meat. Some, argue that the Word of Wisdom essentially commands that we only eat meat when plants are scare, such as they were in winter in the early 19th century, or during times of famine and therefore we should not be eating meat regularly and should instead have an almost or completely plant-based vegetarian diet. Having studied the Word of Wisdom and the rest of the Doctrine and Covenants on this topic, I have concluded that those arguments are incorrect. In this article I will demonstrate that, while the Lord warns us not to waste animal life because He will hold us accountable for each one we take, there is nothing in the scriptures, once correctly understood, which tells us that we should only eat meat in times of winter or famine. Indeed, repeatedly in the scriptures the Lord announces that He is pleased when we eat meat and that He created animals to be used by humans as sources of food and clothing.
