MN 66 explains a bit about the development of the precept.
āHere, venerable sir, while I was alone in meditation, the following thought arose in my mind: āHow many painful states has the Blessed One rid us of!ā¦ How many wholesome states has the Blessed One brought us!ā Venerable sir, formerly we used to eat in the evening, in the morning, and during the day outside the proper time. Then there was an occasion when the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: āBhikkhus, please abandon that daytime meal, which is outside the proper time.ā Venerable sir, I was upset and sad, thinking: āFaithful householders give us good food of various kinds during the day outside the proper time, yet the Blessed One tells us to abandon it, the Sublime One tells us to relinquish it.ā Out of our love and respect for the Blessed One, and out of shame and fear of wrongdoing, we abandoned that daytime meal, which was outside the proper time.
āThen we ate only in the evening and in the morning. Then there was an occasion when the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: āBhikkhus, please abandon that night meal, which is outside the proper time.ā Venerable sir, I was upset and sad, thinking: āThe Blessed One tells us to abandon the more sumptuous of our two meals, the Sublime One tells us to relinquish it.ā Once, venerable sir, a certain man had obtained some soup during the day and he said: āPut that aside and we will all eat it together in the evening.ā [Nearly] all dishes are prepared at night, few by day. Out of our love and respect for the Blessed One, and out of shame and fear of wrongdoing, we abandoned that night meal, which was outside the proper time.
āIt has happened, venerable sir, that bhikkhus wandering for alms in the thick darkness of the night have walked into a cesspool, fallen into a sewer, walked into a thornbush, and walked into a sleeping cow; they have met hoodlums who had already committed a crime and those planning one, and they have been sexually enticed by women. Once, venerable sir, I went wandering for alms in the thick darkness of the night. A woman washing a pot saw me by a flash of lightning and screamed out in terror: āMercy me, a devil has come for me!ā I told her: āSister, I am no devil, I am a bhikkhu waiting for alms.āāāThen itās a bhikkhu whose maās died and whose paās died! Better, bhikkhu, that you get your belly cut open with a sharp butcherās knife than this prowling for alms for your bellyās sake in the thick darkness of the night!ā Venerable sir, when I recollected that I thought: āHow many painful states has the Blessed One rid us of! How many pleasant states has the Blessed One brought us! How many unwholesome states has the Blessed One rid us of! How many wholesome states has the Blessed One brought us!āā
The text says the more sumptuous meal was in the evening, so Iām not sure if it was really easier for the laity to provide a morning mealā¦