I like food.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise, or as news.

I usually prefer healthy food: fresh veggies, lean meats, whole grain breads. I take pleasure in the taste and texture, and I love to spend a day in the kitchen making soups and breads and pies.

I prefer that food be food. Organic and local, if possible. Not from a box, or having ingredients that I have to sound out by syllable. No sugar in things that don't need sugar, and if it does have sugar added, I like real sugar, not HFCS or something similar.

But...

There are some "foods" that call to me, that fall completely outside of what I consider to be food (hence the quotation marks back there). Kraft Dinner, Cool Ranch Doritos and street meat are the top three offenders. You're all likely familiar with the first two, but the latter needs some explanation.

In Toronto (and I expect, in other large cities as well, but Toronto is where my experience lies) there are vendors who dot the downtown street throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn. They sell hot dogs, freshly barbequed, right there in front of you. They have all beef, all chicken, sausages and veggie dogs. They crisp the buns on the grill. They offer a wide range of condiments from ketchup to sauerkraut. The scent of grilling meat wafts up the street, and it was a weekly treat to get a hot dog for all of $2. Who knows what's actually in the hot dogs, or how often they change the mayonnaise? When was the last time that guy behind the grill washed his hands? It's a gamble, a crapshoot, totally against the way I try to eat.

And yet...

Yesterday, while walking back to my desk from a meeting, I smelled something familiar. I looked around, and there on the side of the road, was a street meat cart. It's been over a year since I stopped working in Toronto, and therefore have had the chance to partake. Yesterday I had my usual lunch: healthy sammich, homemade soup, veggies, organic yoghurt, an apple. Today, I left out the sammich while packing my lunch. I have my $4 (just in case it costs more in Waterloo than in Toronto). I am about to go for a walk across the road. Wish me luck with the mayonnaise.