Okay, not having basic cable certainly precludes me from watching the Travel Channel much anyway, but their programming right now isn’t exactly making me want to rush out and order it either. Eater is reporting today that with the recent success of “Man v. Food” (apparently a show about a guy who eats alot of bad food in one sitting), the Travel Channel is adding a show called “Food Wars.” The premise of the show is that each week two local restaurants that specialize in the same dish are pitted against each other in a blind taste test judged by local patrons.

“What,” you say, “does an eating competition show have to do with travel anyway?” Great question. The answer? The same thing “Jersey Shore” has to do with music programming. Nothing!

As we reported back in November, Scripps — the owner of The Food Network and HGTV — took over the channel, and just as we kind of predicted (see my #2), the food-celebrity shows are on their way.

The sad part about this whole thing? Apparently these show are beating out our favorite travel show, “No Reservations,” in ratings on a weekly basis. Time for Tony to put away the Caipirinhas in Brazil and start digging into some 48-oz cuts of beef on live television? Let’s hope not.