Camera Eats First by: Two Market Girls

Saying the thing that no one wants to hear: there's no guaranteed growth strategy on social media. It's different for every creator, every platform, and every audience. Let's talk about some things that might help and some that might hinder.

There seems to be a trend in vegan marketing that's getting more common- cringe. After Oatly made a song, Sol Cuisine decided to make a song about cauliflower. Then THIS in the UK said hold my beer and made an ad about tricking vegans into thinking they're eating meat. What's going on?!

Sol Cuisine Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAyZPS5noaQ

Oatly Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HQU0MB0D5A

Oatly patches: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZhWXjnoOv2/

Oatly apology?: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZtNuNTsc6j/

THIS Uk ad: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaRxhjHq7G9/

Some of our favourite cooking advice comes from Julia Child- butter and fearlessness in the kitchen are key! We watch the movie Julie & Julia to learn about the history of Julia Child and the lessons she passed on to Julie Powell many years later.

We watched Simon Amstell's mockumentary Carnage so you don't have to. We'll tell you the good parts, so you don't have to sit through the triggering and graphic parts.

Vegnuary is all about going vegan for the month of January, but what happens after that? Instead of going all in for 31 days, we're proposing a more sustainable approach to going vegan that's all about making small, long-term changes that aren't overwhelming or intimidating.

Vegan recipe creators to follow:

The Viet Vegan: https://thevietvegan.com/

Okonomi Kitchen: https://okonomikitchen.com/

Ally Lazare: https://allylazare.com/

Nora Cooks: https://www.noracooks.com/

Hot for Food: https://www.hotforfoodblog.com/

The Korean Vegan: https://thekoreanvegan.com/

We're wrapping up the year with our favourite recipes, videos, podcasts, and things that brought us joy. We'll be back in January for another year of food, cooking, and fun!

We're reviewing the heartbreaking movie Okja and what it says about the farming industry, consumerism, and people's perceptions of animals.

From DIY meal kits, to artisanal chocolates and many treats in between, we're going through our lists of gift ideas for all the foodies in your life and sharing some small businesses to help support along the way.

Businesses/Brands mentioned:

VdeV

Ye11ow Studio

Wabanaki Maple Syrup

Framebridge

Hedley and Bennett

Club Backdrops

Grounds and Hounds

Indie Coffee Roasters

Lake and Oak Tea Co.

ChocoSol Traders

Vaka Craft Chocolate

Watercolours by Carly

Natura Soy Candles

Which came first, the marketing or the product? The answer might not be as clear cut as you'd expect. Marketing is in just about everything, especially our food, but it doesn't have to be feared by consumers... most of the time.

As we considered common perceptions people have about vegans, we ended up examining our choices as vegans and what they mean for being imperfect vegans who hang out in the 'grey' area. 

In honour of spooky season, we're reviewing Larry Cohen's The Stuff. What did we learn? The scariest thing we should all fear is...consumerism! 

A few months ago, we made the first changes to our YouTube content and schedule since we started our channel five years ago. We're taking some time to talk about how those changes are going and what adjustments might be still to come.

This is not a riddle, these days it's a genuine question. As influencers continue to rise in popularity and impact, the reasons why they're treated differently than "traditional" Hollywood celebrities, become less convincing.

We're taking everyone's favourite flavours from Thanksgiving and remixing them in some fun new ways. Would you try a Thanksgiving brunch?

We're reviewing the film Chocolat and even though it leaves you wanting so much chocolate, it's actually the strong female characters that make it one of our favourite food themed movies.

Time for some in-depth daydreaming as we plan out the concept for our own vegan food truck.

We ask our non-vegan families what vegan meals or foods are their favourites to help us determine what options make good starting points for people who are looking to add some vegan meals into their life.

Lab grown meat might be paraded as the answer to the planet's future, but is it really? We discuss how the growth of lab grown meats could impact vegans, non-vegans, and the environment. 

We're watching the movie Big Night and discussing the friction that can happen when business decisions clash with the art and expression of the food being cooked by the chef in a restaurant.

Diving into the dessert discourse and if that’s not already a thing, we’re making it a thing. We’re ranking all the types of desserts from best to worst and rethinking our relationships with ice cream and chocolate.

Do you think pineapple belongs on pizza? If you had to give up either bagels or donuts, which would you choose? This episode is a buffet of food questions and debates. Kat is reminded of a food she’s loved but been missing too long, and Dev’s veganism is challenged.

Guy Fieri's recently announced $80 million Food Network deal got us thinking about the machine that this cable food channel has become. We consider their history, how they got where they are today with their various shows, and what they should consider for the future. 

Of all the appliances and gadgets that can be found in a kitchen, which ones could you not live without? We're sharing our favourites, our dream appliances, and the ones we just don't need.

It's part two of our Salt Fat Acid Heat review, where we learn about how to master the use acid and heat in our cooking. Samin Nosrat leaves us with her joyful philosophy around home cooking and how sharing this experience with others is what makes food so special.

Taking a look back at the beginnings of food TV and how it has progressed over the years. You'd be surprised how much from the early days still shines through in the times of social media and food entertainment.

Learn more about the history:

https://gastropod.com/tv-dinners/

Even though we're very fortunate to have lots of vegan and accidentally vegan foods available, there are still some that we're dreaming of. Warning this episode may make you hungry or very nostalgic.

Did you know Ritz crackers are vegan? We're listing some of our favourite accidentally vegan foods, aka our favourite treasures to come across in the grocery store. Disclaimer: we are only referencing Canadian/Ontario products, so make sure to double check the labels wherever you are shopping.

After seeing some potentially harmful takes on a new TikTok food trend, we got talking about all the ways social media and the amount of information about food and eating habits is out there. It's not always bad, but there's not doubt we are constantly seeing it and knowingly or unknowingly being influenced by it.

Content warning: diet culture, weight discussions

We're discussing the movie Chef and the passion behind making it. We break down the whole film and how it reflects the struggles of being a professional chef while still maintaining the creativity and love for the art of cooking. Disclaimer: there will be spoilers and there is some not so vegan friendly content in this film. 

As we analyze recent food trends on social media, we discuss how our perceptions and expectations of food are altered by what we see on Instagram or TikTok. 

What goes into posting content on all the different social media platforms? A lot. And not just from a production stand point. It's also about pleasing the platform's personality. We discuss what varies between each app and how our approach to the content changes.

Has January felt five years long to everyone else? We're navigating the ups and downs of our productivity these days, so we discuss how we get motivated when we're feeling unproductive and why we wish the perceptions around productivity would change.

No matter what's happening, we know we gotta keep creative to keep ourselves feeling okay. Along with that, comes learning that taking time to feel your feelings or slow down is also productive and that down time matters. No new year resolutions here, just figuring out what to focus on!

Do you have a list of foods or recipes you want to try? We've been putting some lists together and we're sharing what recipes we want to try first!

How do you figure out how much you should be charging a brand when you partner with them on content? Are you charging what you're worth or shying away because of doubts? It's a struggle that almost every content creator feels because this whole industry is still so new, but we're giving some insights into how we decide what to charge and what our work is worth.

Addressing the classic complaint "why is there a whole story before the recipe? I just want the recipe, not your life story". We explain how much work goes into one recipe post and why creators wish for kindness when it comes to complaints like this on something that is already free.

We're sharing the latest cooking and baking experiments we've been trying in the kitchen. Everything from DIY sprinkles, to vegan egg yolk, and even some failed meatballs turned to a success.

Veganism has come a long way and has a long way to go. In honour of #WorldVeganDay, we're discussing the highs and lows of what it means to be vegan these days. 

Baking has never been as fun or approachable as when Christina Tosi talks about it. She loves the nerdy science side of it just as much as she loves using those basic ingredients we all know from our childhoods. She inspires the heck out of us and we're sharing all the lessons we've learned from her. Remember- baking and food is a form of creativity and there is plenty of fun to be had.

Be sure to check out Christina on the new season of The Chef Show, which we reference throughout this episode.

We're calling out all the vegan foods, recipes, and ingredients that we feel are just overrated. They're commonly hyped up and associated with vegan eating, but we just don't get it. That's right, we're looking at you oat milk...and nutritional yeast...and banana nice cream....and smoothie bowls.

After vegan YouTuber Maddie Lymburner announced she's now incorporating limited amounts of animal products back into her diet for health reasons, we saw the backlash from the vegan community. We want to advocate for a more inclusive vegan community that isn't built on perfection.

In anticipating of KFC launching a vegan chicken sandwich and popcorn chicken across Canada, we're recapping all of their previous vegan chicken launches and why we think this one will be successful.

Turning your blog or YouTube channel into a source of income is every creator's dream, right? So where do you start and how do you work towards a sustainable income? We're sharing 5 ways any creator can monetize their platform and what it takes to do it.

Four years into our blog and we're sharing all our advice for anyone who's interested in starting their own. Everything from considering your voice and the unique perspective you can bring, to social media and strategy, and even a little tech advice too. Just remember, blogs are still valuable.

No, really. We're fiiineee. Okay, we may be a bit tired and emotionally drained, but we still have lots to be thankful for. And we're still filling this new 'normal' with lots of different activities. 

It's week ??? of isolation and we've finally got a mini news segment for you! Along with the news, we discuss the habits and hobbies we're trying out to keep ourselves healthy and happy in this weird world.

So the novelty of staying home has warn off, but we are still trying to find positives. We discuss how we're staying connected, more ideas for getting creative with our content, and how to make those nights at home a little more special.

As we try to settle into life during social distancing, we talk about the different content ideas we're experimenting with on our YouTube channel and what our eating habits have been like.

We're both officially working from home for the next little while and sharing how our experience is going. We also discuss how we're navigating social media and the stress that comes with the never ending news cycle of negativity these days.  Stay safe and healthy everyone!

In light of efforts to practice social distancing and staying home, we thought we'd offer some ideas for how to pass the time. What to watch, what to listen to, hobbies or skills to try, and all around helpful habits to stay happy during this difficult time.

Shows/Movies We Recommend: 

Lost Girl, Ugly Delicious, The Chef Show, Frozen 2, Brooklyn 99, The Great Hack, Working Moms, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Bad Moms, Grace and Frankie, Cheer, Fleabag, The Politician, The Biggest Little Farm, Game Night, Booksmart, Unbelievable, Star Trek Picard, Restaurant Impossible, The Outsider

Podcasts We Recommend:

The Last Podcast on the Left, Reply All, How Did This Get Made, WTF with Marc Maron, Today Explained, Frontburner, The Daily, Dying for Sex, And That’s Why We Drink, Decoder Ring, Science Vs, The Science of Happiness

Would you go to a non-vegan surf n turf dinner? Dev shares her experience attending a dinner party where no one else was vegan and lobster claws were everywhere. The urge to be a "preachy vegan" or feeling isolated because no one else feels the empathy you're feeling can be difficult, but there's a lot we learned from it.

It's time to have the talk. It's time we told you where recipes come from. As requested by one of our Patrons, we're discussing how we come up with recipes for our blog. Why do so many of Dev's involve buffalo sauce? How does Kat really feel about following trends? 

We sit down with local vegan blogger and Instagrammer Tory Halpin to learn what it's really like to be vegan and pregnant. We discuss everything from how her doctors reacted to what's changed about her diet since becoming pregnant. 

First things first, we discuss the new Beyond Meat burger that Tim Horton's recently introduced. The fast food excitement continues with confirmation that KFC's plant-based 'chicken' burger is actually in existence, in Toronto at least. Then we move on to analyzing the current state of social media including bloggers collaborating with each other over competing, long form vs short form content, and authenticity vs aesthetics. 

It's time for a kombucha taste test! Kat recently visited Montreal and brought back 7 different kinds of kombucha for us to try. All was going well until one got a little too excited about being opened... We also answered some ice breaker questions in between drinks.

In this episode, we've got some vegan news topics to cover and a Would You Rather Q&A! Arby's recently ran a marketing campaign featuring a carrot made out of meat to signify their thoughts on the plant-based meat trend, so we share our thoughts on that. Tyson Foods released "chicken nuggets" and "burgers" that use the phrase 'plant-based' in deceiving ways. As far as good news goes, Pizza Pizza adds vegan pepperoni and chorizo to their selection of vegan pizza options!

Our Would You Rather Q&A segment features the possibility of changing genders every year, being an introverted genius vs an extroverted idiot, and the debate over eating a rancid steak vs a human liver... things get seriously unfiltered.

Do we want to help get more people interested in veganism? Yes! Do we consider ourselves Vegan Activists? No. Some might call us bad vegans for saying this, but we aren't fans of the traditional and extreme activism that can be common in the vegan community. Instead, we vouch for a different method of appealing to non-vegans.  

Kat wants everyone to re-think their relationship with their grill and make the most of it this summer! We challenge the notion that grilling is just for meat and share all the other foods that you might not expect to grill well and taste so damn delicious.

We discuss what struggles we've had when travelling to unfamiliar places as a vegan, as well as the challenges that come from travelling with non-vegans. Can you just live off of granola bars? How can you finesse the menu at non-vegan restaurants? Where should we travel to next? 

Are we in a relationship? Is Dev secretly a really good cook? Did we drool over Gaz Oakley when we met him? We asked our viewers what assumptions they've had about us and responded to them all. Find out which ones were true and which ones were completely shocking to us! 

Most non-vegans see cheese as the great big mystery of veganism. How can someone possibly live their life without dairy cheese?! We discuss the vegan cheeses that satisfy our cravings and how to approach the phrase "I could never live without cheese."

Beyond Meat drama! Canadian coffee franchise Tim Horton's announced a vegan breakfast sandwich with Beyond Meat patties, but won't tell anyone where they're available. Meat farmers in Canada are protesting the labeling of Beyond Meat as it might confuse consumers in grocery stores. And finally, on a more positive note- President's Choice (a Canadian food company) have released a new line of plant-based products that we're eager to try!

With food festival season officially underway, we got to talking about the best and worst parts of food festivals. We love a good festival, but we've learned some hacks to prepare for some of the not-so-good things that you might experience at them. Also, find out which festivals we're planning to attend!

We talk about some of the latest updates Instagram has launched, including hiding how many likes a photo has, Creator profiles, and quizzes! With these updates, come impacts to brands, creators, and users- some positive and some negative but we share how we hope the platform continues to evolve to benefit everyone.

We spend this episode brainstorming about some upcoming projects that we're very excited to get working on, including an e-cookbook and a possible vegan travel web series. 

When a vegan company served their plant-based egg substitute alongside non-vegan foods at an event, they received some heavy backlash from the vegan community. We share our thoughts on the company's choices, how they responded, and how vegans reacted. 

When it comes to food blogging, sometimes the food and content you see bloggers post can get a little far from being realistic for the average person. Who really has time to make their own non-dairy milk all the time?! We discuss our thoughts on trying to be more authentic and show that veganism and food blogging doesn't have to involve making everything from scratch and having picture perfect meals all the time.

When we're not cooking, these are the movies and shows we're probably watching. They make us laugh, cry, and sometimes question our taste in entertainment. 

Some people believe it isn't vegan to own pets, others feel that their pets should be vegan just like them. On this episode we're talking about all things animals and veganism- everything from zoos and aquariums, to vegan dogs and animals in show biz. 

In another edition of trending vegan news, we're discussing the announcement that Rawvana and Raw Alignment, two well known vegan YouTubers, are no longer vegan. We also discuss the scandal between Impossible Foods and Vegan Zombie, where the company lied about dairy being in samples that were serving at Expo West. 

A common assumption about veganism is that being vegan automatically means you only eat healthy food, but we don't fit that stereotype very well. We embrace junk food and don't really relate to the typical wellness-focused vegan personas. We discuss why it's a good thing to increase awareness about the junk food side of veganism and how we approach a balanced diet.

We discuss some recent trending news in the vegan world including the UK Dairy industry vs plant-based cheese shop La Fauxmagerie, Califia Farms' new Uber Milk, PETA vs Steve Irwin, PETA puts a spy camera in the Oscars swag bags, Canada runs out of Tofu, and all the new vegan products coming to Canada.  

We've had A LOT of food truck ideas and we share some of them in this episode as we answer a bunch of questions from our audience. Everything from how we manage our blog and YouTube channel, to our travel bucket lists.

As content creators and foodies, we love watching cooking shows and appreciate all kinds of food based content... even if it contains meat. We often worry about being criticized for this fact.

Accidents happen. The fact is no vegan is perfect. We've all suffered through that unfortunate realization when you've unknowingly eaten something that's not vegan. So what do you do? Even more, what do you do once you know it's not vegan? Do you keep eating it?

Neither of us are professionally trained chefs, but we love food and we love creating vegan recipes. So, how do we do it? In this episode, we explore how we come up with our recipe ideas, what's involved in testing, and how we've dealt with our cooking failures.

After YouTuber Bonny Rebecca revealed she's no longer vegan because of a long battle with health issues, she faced intense backlash from the vegan community. We support Bonny's decision to put her health first and feel all the negative criticism is unwarranted. On this episode we share our thoughts and why we're questioning whether we want to still be associated with this community.

With all these social media platforms dominating everyone's time and attention, is there still value in having a blog? We think yes and we'll explain why in this episode but just remember- your blog is the one place that you own. If Instagram shuts down tomorrow, your blog would still be there because you control it.

Ever questioned if your veganism is really making a difference? We're addressing those doubts with a discussion on the environmental impacts of one person going vegan, as well as the trickle down effects of being the token vegan. Sometimes it's all the little things that can lead to making a difference in the long run. 

New year, new food trends right? From motherless meats to the next fad diet, we're discussing some of the food trends that have been predicted for 2019. We also share what trends we'd like to see gain popularity and if the food we create for our blog will follow any trends this year.

Before the new year starts, we're taking some time to assess our ambitions. Inspired by fellow YouTubers and Podcasters Colin and Samir, we answer questions from a personal vision worksheet to figure out where we want to be and how to get there.

Time for the truth about going vegan- our advice, experiences, and challenges.