Unlikely Companions

Due to a 4th of July marathon, a dozen episodes of the irreverent series "Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations" were stored on my DVR when I turned on the television last night.  I was just completing my first day of a five day, raw food cleanse so I wondered if this was the smartest viewing choice.   As the intrepid host feasted on chicken feet soup in Jamaica, deep-fried pig intestines in Columbia, and sheep's hooves in Saudi Arabia  I realized this was the perfect, albeit unlikely, appetite suppressant.  Over the past year I have unwittingly become a vegetarian, an unexpected result from watching the documentary "Food Inc" last summer.   Once my eyes were open to the inhumane conditions abundant in factory farms through out the US, I no longer wanted to eat meat.  In the first few months I did sample the occasional piece of organic beef or chicken, but over time my desire waned.  The other, more surprising, effect of the documentary was my reaction to processed foods.  Some of my favorite vittles fall into this genre -- pretzels, saltines, peanut butter, diet coke, tortilla chips, movie theater popcorn -- but after confirming what I already suspected, ingredients you can't pronounce aren't good for you, I've reduced my consumption significantly.   On any given day I know where there is a farmers market in Los Angeles.  I've charted the seasons by watching the hearty squashes and wilted greens of winter be replaced by pea shoots and persimmons in the spring.  My sabbatical has given me endless, enjoyable hours in the kitchen and a preference for having friends over for dinner rather than meeting at a local restaurant.  Although, I look forward to watching the rest of Tony's gastronomic global adventures, I'm very grateful to be just an armchair companion.