Most people who have talked to me for more than thirty minutes over the past year heard me talk about food, especially all the fresh vegetables and fruit, as well as the legumes I cook in the pressure cooker.

With many of them, I describe in detail what I eat. Some I even show the pictures, like these, of what I eat

Or these, showing the farm where my food grew:

Or this, showing the full contents of my kitchen—everything I eat:

That’s everything in my kitchen!

The ignorant meat-eater question

So, knowing everything I eat, they ask,

So where do you get your protein?

The answer is right there. This isn’t like I casually mention to someone that I don’t eat meat. I describe exactly what I eat and show them pictures. Not only do they have the answer, there is no other possible answer. There is no other way for me to get any nutrition except what I eat. There it is, in the picture.

It’s like you say to someone “My name is Josh” and they say, “But what is your name?” Or “I speak English” and they say, “Ah, but do you speak English?”

Is ignorant the right word? What do you call it when someone asks what you just told them?

Why does nobody ask, “That’s interesting, it seems my beliefs are inconsistent with reality. Maybe I can learn something here. Can you help me see what I’m missing?”

Or why does no one ask, “I thought you’d die if you didn’t eat more protein. Not only are you not dead, but you run marathons, do more burpees than most, rowed 5,000 meters in under 20 minutes, and so on. Why did I believe something so wrong? How can I fix my understanding?”

Why does no one say, “I’m curious what your nutritional intake was. Since I don’t know, I’ll go research on my own to find out?”