Fact: In the words of Ripley, believe it or not Anthony Bourdain does not like to see animals in pain, it gets him very uncomfortable. He disgusts (which could be a strong word) factory farming and like he states quite often, “I’m not an advocate of the meat industry.”
Like all the other Travel Channel stars, Anthony Bourdain CNN recognizes the luxury he has fallen into.
“It’s not everyday you are handed a passport to travel, free food and accommodations, and a television to boot.”
Bourdain grew up in New York City where he attended The Englewood School for Boys in New Jersey, Vassar College (for two years) and is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. He worked his way up from dish washer, food preparer, line cook, sous chef, to chef.
That being said, Bourdain can come off on his show as someone who doesn’t sympathize with animals like other people. He seems to fall into a spectrum of society that enjoys (to a degree) the death of an animal. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Moreover, Bourdain has conversed live, quoted, and entertained podcasts to talk about the misuse and abuse of animals and workers (chickens and cattle) in the food industry. He is an advocate for animals having stress free lives which he believes produces in his eyes “a happier and better product”. He believes that someone who is a meat eater should once in their lives go through the entire process of properly euthanizing, dressing, and cooking an animal to fully appreciate and understand the process.
So even though Bourdain might seem overly ambitious in the euthanizing of an animal on ‘No Reservations’ and ‘Parts Unknown’, he does not take it lightly. People have different personalities. Those unique differences can arise during very stressful and scary situations, like euthanizing. For some people joking and dark humor is a very important coping mechanism. Or sometimes you put a smile on your face and joke around to accommodate your host.
