The phrase one man’s mead is another man’s poison is a humorous variant of the proverb one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

This variant is based on the resemblance between the noun mead, which denotes an alcoholic liquor made by fermenting a mixture of honey and water, and the noun meat, which, in the proverb, is used in its original sense of food in general, anything used as nourishment, solid food as opposed to drink.

—Cf. also the humorous variants one man’s meat is another man’s poisson and one man’s Mede is another man’s Persian.

The earliest occurrences of the phrase one man’s mead is another man’s poison that I have found are as follows, in chronological order—these quotations illustrate the diversity of reasons for using this phrase; one particular motivation has been to play on the surnames Mead and Meade:

1-: From the column Dan Parker Says, published in the Evening Courier (Camden, New Jersey, USA) of Tuesday 23^rd August 1938:

New York, Aug. 23.—Proving that one man’s Mead is another man’s poison, George Stromberries Parnassus ¹, manager of Ceferino Garcia, left town in a huff (sedan) last week, complaining bitterly that the manager of Henry Armstrong is trying to declare himself in for 50 percent of the Filipino in case he wins the welterweight title from old Three-in-One when they meet in the Garden. Not satisfied with managing the triple champion, Eddie Mead ² also wants to control those, if any, who beat Henry, according to intimates who have the Greek’s word for it. Thus does monopoly again rear its ugly head in the fight racket, to turn a neat and original phrase over on its back.

¹ This refers to the Greek-born U.S. boxing promoter and manager George Parnassus (1897-1975).
² This refers to the U.S. boxing promoter and manager Eddie Mead (died 1942).

2-: From Mead Wants Decision in Bout Changed, dated New York, Wednesday 23^rd August 1939, by Eddie Brietz, Associated Press sports writer, published in the Tampa Morning Tribune (Tampa, Florida, USA) of Thursday 24^th August 1939:

Amid the squawks and confusion which followed the Lou Ambers-Henry Armstrong lightweight title scrap, came these developments today:
1. Eddie Mead, manager of Armstrong, said he would demand the New York state reverse the unanimous verdict awarding the championship to Ambers.
[…]
Mead has done all the talking to date. Now it’s up to the commission to either act or talk about the weather. Its integrity has been challenged by the big guy who thinks only of the principle of the thing, not the money.
He is Armstrong’s manager, but no pal of the commission. In brief, to be punny, one man’s Mead is another man’s poison.

3-: From the column Broadway, by Danton Walker, published in the Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York, USA) of Thursday 6^th August 1942:

Mead ³ and Dewey ⁴, probable opponents in the New York gubernatorial race, both have headquarters in the Roosevelt Hotel. […] And Charlie Spivak disposes of the New York gubernatorial muddle by observing that one’s man Mead is another man’s poison.

³ This refers to the Democrat politician James Michael Mead (1885-1964).
⁴ This refers to the Republican politician Thomas Edmund Dewey (1902-1971), Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954.

4-: From The Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan, USA) of Saturday 22^nd August 1942:

INTERCEPTED LETTERS
THOMAS E. DEWEY
Republican Headquarters
New York City
Dear Tom:
The way the Democrats have split over Mead as your opponent will it be all right to suggest that one man’s Mead is another man’s poison?
PIPELINE PETE

5-: From the column Listening In, by Don Foster, published in the Daily Times: Chicago’s Picture Newspaper (Chicago, Illinois, USA) of Thursday 8^th August 1946:

Beatrice Kay says the current slogan in Wahington is, “One man’s Mead is another man’s poison.”

6-: From the column Broadway, by Danton Walker, published in the Daily News (New York City, New York, USA) of Wednesday 30^th October 1946:

Maybe it has appeared before, but we haven’t seen it: One man’s Mead is another man’s poison.

7-: From Washington Beat, by Leslie and Elizabeth Carpenter, Tribune Washington correspondents, published in The Tulsa Tribune (Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA) of Saturday 9^th March 1957:

Brew Over Meade
When Old Guard Republicans complained about the election of Meade Alcorn ⁵ as the new GOP national chairman, a “modern Republican” spoke up:
“After all, as the saying goes, one man’s Meade is another man’s poison.”

⁵ This refers to Hugh Meade Alcorn (1907-1992), Chair of the Republican National Committee from February 1957 to July 1959.

8-: From the column Slightly Kloss-eyed, by Gerald Kloss, of The Journal, published in The Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) of Thursday 17^th May 1962:

Keep your ears stuffed Monday for the whispering campaign conducted by the beer and ale brewers of America, hoping to plant the suspicion that drinkers of fermented honey may break out in hives, with the insidious slogan, “One man’s mead is another man’s poison.”

9-: From the East Antrim Times (Larne, Antrim, Northern Ireland) of Thursday 25^th January 1968:

ONE MAN’S MEAD . . .

Showband musicians and managers are not exactly among the world’s most teetotal people, but right now many of them are praying that Ulster’s licensing laws are not changed.
For if the Stormont characters decide to allow you an hour longer each night to drink up thy zider, stout, scotch or schnapps (and order another few rounds) it will almost certainly mean the end of Saturday night dancing.
And ballroom promoters expect they will lose a lot of money on mid-week dates too.
If licensing times are extended—the ideal many people are thirsting for—dancers will not leave pubs until 11 pm or sometime after, depending on the kindness/courage/madness of the bar manager. And in Ireland on Saturday night most dances are over at midnight or thereabouts.
The important question is would you pay in the region of 6-8 devalued shillings for half-an-hour of dancing? The important answer in most cases, we imagine, would be a noisy “No!”
It would seem a bright idea then to extend the hours of dancing to fit in with a licensing change. But, say ballroom managers, this would be risky. For surely if those dance fans who tipple before arriving at the ballroom have an extra hour to indulge their pleasures there will be a rapid increase in drunkenness. And that is bad for business.
Managers are also afraid that the number of drinking dancers, which we must agree is high, will spend most of their loot in bars and have nothing left midweek to pay their way into dances.
Their fears seem well grounded. One band manager told Pop Scene: “Stand in any ballroom and watch the way crowds flock in just after closing time—even on Saturday nights which only leaves them about an hour-and-half to dance. With extended drinking time Saturday dancing would close down. And if people drink more they will have less to spend on going to ballrooms.”
If the change does come about some dance halls may close altogether, certainly there will be less showbands around and pubs will probably capitalise on the increased trade by putting on their own entertainment. This could entirely revolutionise the trend in relaxation.
Which all goes to prove that one man’s mead is another man’s poison.