Color output is not on by default in 'ls'.

Your 'ls' must be an alias for the real ls with some options. For example, mine is:

    $ type ls
    ls is aliased to `ls --color=auto'

A quick way to run the original 'ls' (not the aliased version), just prefix it with backslash:

    $ \ls ...

Or:

    $ command ls ...

I can't imagine why anyone would want to spawn another process instead of just RTFM, if you are on linux:

    ls --color=never -1

Because, in many - if not most - situations, spawning another process is insanely lightweight compared to the cognitive/physical load of your alternative (which includes remembering the switch and its value ("never" is hardly intuitive), remembering whether or not you're using a system that supports it (surprise, surprise, OSX doesn't), and typing all those extra characters).

Admittedly, I never actually do this because I don't ever care to not see colour (what would be the motive?), but I can understand why the OP does what they do.

You are Randal L. Schwartz and I claim my five pounds.

[http://partmaps.org/era/unix/award.html]