What Was Mankind’s Original Diet?

A Historical Question

The question of mankind’s original diet is a question about the past. It’s a question about a time long ago, before any of us were alive. So to answer this type of historical question, we can rely on what the bible says in Genesis chapter 1 because the bible is God’s word so it is an accurate record of historical information:

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1

So we can read in verse 29 that the original diet of mankind was herbs which give seeds, and trees which give fruit. These plants were created on the 3rd day of creation week. Notice that in verse 30 the animals and birds were also given green plants for food. God said that His creation was “very good” in verse 31. God’s very good creation did not have flesh foods, carnivory and death in it, because the bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that death is an enemy:

26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

People and animals being given the original diet of plants is consistent with the fact that there was no death in the world until after Adam sinned, as we can read in 1 Corinthians 15:

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned

1 Corinthians 15

It is often incorrectly taught in American schools that plants are alive, and that they die. Plants are not alive in the way animals are alive. The bible does not speak of plants dying, instead it speaks of plants “withering”:

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isaiah 40

But plants are not alive because they do not have blood, and the Bible says that blood is the life:

23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

Deuteronomy 12:23

So plants are amazing, replicating food sources and they can wither and stop functioning, but they are not alive in the way animals and people are alive.

Conclusion

Plants were designed and created to be food for mankind on the 3rd day of creation week as described in Genesis chapter 1. Our great plus grandparents Adam and Eve ate a diet of plants. All animals originally ate plants also. Carnivory began after Adam sinned.

People are limited in knowledge and understanding, especially of historical facts, so we can instead trust the bible because God is the one who created everything in the first place.

I hope you trust the Word of God as well.