THE ROYCROFT REPORT

Anyone who loves Paula Deen, and/or Anthony Bourdain, have no doubt heard about the remarks spewed between the two.

First let me tell you this…I am a great fan of Anthony Bourdain. I’ve been watching him since day one, before “No Reservations” ever aired. I think Paula Deen is delightful and has a good story of struggle and success to tell. On the down side, to me she comes across as a caricature of a person from the south. Being from Georgia it kinda bothers me when she opens her mouth and every other word that comes out is “y’all.” Can you say, dumb southerner? Her exaggerated southern drawl gets old real fast.

Paula Deen is no doubt quite the success story. She worked hard to get where she is, but she is not a trained chef. She is just a really good cook that wouldn’t let anything stop her from moving forward. Anyone’s grandmother can match anything Paula Deen can cook. On the other hand, Anthony Bourdain is a master chef who graduated from the CIA in 1978. His resume speaks for itself. The two cannot be compared in any way. Ok, so now that I have pissed off the Paula Deen fan club…

In an interview with TV Guide, Bourdain called Paula Deen “the worst, most dangerous person to America.” He went on to say, “She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she’s proud of the fact that her food is f—ing bad for you. If I were on at seven at night and loved by millions of people at every age, I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it’s OK to eat food that is killing us. Plus, her food sucks.” he told the magazine. He later clarified on Twitter that Paula Deen is “hardly the worst person in America, just the most destructive influence on Food Network.”

Bourdain tweeted :”Next time I’m asked (for the millionth time) who the worst cooks on Food Network are, I’ll just shut up,”Who cares?”

Paula Deen had this response, “It’s not all about cooking, but what I can contribute by using my influence to help people across the country. In the last two years, my partners and I have fed more than 10 million hungry people, bringing the meat to food banks . I do not know what Anthony did to contribute in addition to being annoying. ”

I commend Paula Deen for all she does for charity, but apparently Paula Deen doesn’t watch Bourdain’s show, “No Reservations,” because if she did she would realize that he has a much bigger impact on bringing attention to those who suffer most in our world than she ever could.

How’s this for influence – Bourdain’s food/travel show, “No Reservations”, has focused on the millions of people who are struggling for survival, both at home and abroad. Bourdain has brought to viewers the human side of conflict in Beirut, where he found himself in the middle of the terrors of war. He has also shown us the terrible poverty in Brazil, the disaster in Japan, and the awful scars left from the genocide in Cambodia.

His episode on the Haiti earthquake was eye opening and gave the best journalistic human view of any news agency out there. Bourdain has also devoted shows to post-Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans.

Yes, Anthony Bourdain speaks his mind and I commend him for being honest. He is a no nonsense kinda of guy that will sometimes say things that some might find offensive. So do I… so what? At least he doesn’t subscribe to the politically correct bs that most other liberals do.

Anthony Bourdain gets my vote any day for what he does to promote awareness of the plight in other cultures, other countries, and people of the world. Money isn’t always the answer to every problem. Bringing attention to it is a good start. Aside from being a great chef, it’s one of the things Bourdain does best.

He may or may not donate $millions to charities, but he most certainly brings  attention to the of millions of people in our world who are hurting, struggling and dying. So Paula, how much is that worth y’all? – John Roycroft

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• Anthony Bourdain vs. Paula Deen: Who ‘peed in his cereal’? [Poll] (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• Paula Deen and Anthony Bourdain are at war (popwatch.ew.com)
• Paula Deen Vs. Anthony Bourdain (buzzfeed.com)