daf bit: Bava Metzia 89

[cellio]

The mishna teaches: laborers are permitted to eat from what they were hired to work on, provided it grows from the soil. So a hired picker may eat wheat from the stalks, grapes from the vine, and so on. The g'mara discusses this at some length, observing that this does not include produce that does not grow from the ground, such as milk from cows. The g'mara then goes on to discuss alterations; is the laborer permitted to cook the food, for instance? The laborer may not cook the food over a fire, nor crush it with stones, nor warm it in the earth, but he is permitted to crush it between his fingers. All of this is on account of time because he is doing it while working. (Mishna 87a, g'mara 89a-b).

Comments

[cellio]

The talmud does, in fact, compare this to the prohibition of muzzling the ox.

My read is that the talmud is saying that this is not stealing; the worker is entitled to eat and need not feel like he's getting away with something. However, he also can't abuse it; it's for eating on the job in a way that doesn't interfere with doing the job, not a free pass on having to obtain your own food.