After 8 years of blogging, I’m taking a look back at how Fake Food Free has evolved and the current state of the food blog landscape around me. I’m revealing those changes that I’m not so happy about and returning my focus to why this blog came to be.
When I first started Fake Food Free in 2008, in my corner of the world, the ideas of knowing the sources of your food and reducing processed foods were just beginning. I’d always eaten whole grains, fruits and vegetables, but the idea of making more foods from scratch, closely watching sugar intake and buying local eggs were efforts that were just beginning.
I loved what Fake Food Free represented in my life – an effort to eat fewer processed, more local foods, while embracing international food culture.
Then I woke up one day and all of a sudden it wasn’t enough. Despite having no food allergies or intolerances, I could no longer define healthy as simply reducing processed foods.
It wasn’t enough to eat whole grain, it had to be gluten free. Better yet, cut grains out all together. And forget about minimally refined sweeteners. Fruit should go, too. Eat vegetables, but wait, not corn or sweet potatoes. Kale may be questionable as well. Peas are a starch. Oh wait, now they have valuable protein. If I wanted to save the earth and stop being a horribly cruel person, I had to cut out meat. And eliminating dairy would solve all of my nutritional problems.
I also needed to label myself and all my foods. Why? Well for SEO purposes, but also so that I could be sure to take my stand in conversations about food. How could one have a food conversation without identifying what one could and couldn’t eat, how if affects bodily functions, complexion, or mental health?
Not only did the foods I share have to change, so did how I presented them. When blogs tipped the scale at becoming full time professions, things changed for the rest of us, too. If you have a food blog you are expected to produce the Martha Stewart family of magazines style of content. To act as though, despite being only one person, you have a staff of 20 to test recipes, edit, give art direction, style and photograph.
If you don’t have this, if you make a typo in a post, if someone tells you that your recipe didn’t work for them, well, you are not enough.
I have extreme respect for those who have made their blog a business. It is not an easy task. These are incredibly smart, savvy, talented folks.
At the same time, it’s important to note that some of us are still out here for the joy and the hobby of it all. We don’t have grand missions of sharing our stories or changing your world. We like to share, but we also want to learn. Learn by experimenting with food, sharing those experiments with you and hearing what you do, and what you know, and where you’ve been.
Perfection has never been my strong suit. Neither has grammar, if we are being completely honest. Chances are you’ll find something grammatically incorrect in this very post.
I’ll save those efforts to be perfect for my profession. If a blog is someone’s profession then this is where the perfection must lie. I get it.
But as a reader you should know that not everyone is in that boat or wishes to sail it.
It’s taken me a while to realize how the food conversations I’ve had have changed over the past couple of years. And it’s taken me even longer to admit that I don’t like the changes.
Those conversations used to be discussions about ways to prepare foods, foods from other cultures, and what was positive about a food versus the oversharing of details about how it upsets one’s stomach.
Food was pleasure, friends, family, vibrancy, ethnicity and history.
Revisiting why this blog was created is way overdue. With that comes a decision to stop letting the current blogosphere and ideal SEO practices dictate what I should and shouldn’t eat and what I should and shouldn’t share.
It’s time to get back to real food from every corner of the world. I hope you stay along for the ride.
Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.
Good for you! I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog and I’ve never been one to pick anyone’s blog or posts apart. I enjoy them for what they are and some posts resonate with me and others don’t. If a recipe doesn’t sound like something I’d make, I move on. I think it’s great that you are going back to your roots and what got you excited about the blogosphere in the first place! You have always come across as nothing but authentic!
Thanks so much, Danielle! It is so nice to hear that. We are very similar in the way we enjoy blogs. I really appreciate that you keep reading and I hope you are doing well!
Amen. I was just having this very conversation yesterday (and again this morning). Thanks for a thoughtful and honest post.
I’m so glad to hear it resonated with you, Vanessa. I’m so glad you commented, too! Love your blog!
I love every part about what you said. While I don’t have a personal blog up and running just yet, I follow enough blogs and work with enough bloggers to see how the landscape has changed. Your approach IMO is spot on – blog/share for the joy of it. Make it your creative outlet. And those of us who share the same passion for food, culture & nutrition will follow along.
Your comment means so much, Chris. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and giving me some reassurance that I’m on the right track!
I’ve been feeling this for a while–I was never good enough, not my traffic, my ideas, my life, my house, my kids any of it and then a revelation I was happier when I did what I set out to do which is share what *I* was about (and to stop looking down on people who don’t make the same food choices I do!) I’ve found I’m freer and happier than I have been in a while and it’s SO nice
You are amazing. Your work is amazing. I can’t wait to see you do next. Love you!
Laura, I’m so happy to hear you’ve discovered the right blogging path for you. I enjoy reading what you are about so so much! Thanks for your kind words. I feel fortunate that our paths have crossed because you inspire me! Love you!
I’m so proud of you for taking the time to step back and reevaluate why you’re blogging and what you want to be blogging about. You probably know that I’ve made similar changes to Taste As You Go, and I couldn’t be happier now that I’ve freed myself from the pressure of being like everyone else.
I was never like anyone else, and it was killing me trying to live up to certain expectations because all of the other bloggers were doing X, Y, and Z.
I guarantee I’ll be along for the ride, Lori, and I can’t wait to see what you share next!
XO
Michellle
Thanks so much, Michelle! And I’m along for yours, too! Perfect words — “freed myself from the pressure of being like everyone else” 🙂
This.
Thank you, Carla. 🙂
I don’t know if you’re directly referring to my FB rant on grammar or not, but in my experience those who are aware and acknowledge that they might have errors are those who seldom do. Your posts are some of the most well-written ones out there, truthfully.
I started reading your blog long ago and I too fell into the “must be local! must be this! must be that!” on my blog for a while, and it wasn’t fun *or* making my blog any better. I’m doing what I want now.
And, FWIW, I don’t believe anyone has to explain why they write about what they do.
Megan, I need to go back and check out your rant! Haha! This post is a culmination of several encounters and conversations over the past year. I always feel self conscious about not being a good editor or having one. I often find typos, but I just change them once I notice them. Even if it’s been a few years!
I appreciate your kind words about my posts. And I love what you said about those pressured changes not making your blog any better. I feel like mine improves when it’s what I want to write about and not what I feel forced to write about.
Love this post Lori. I believe all of us who have been blogging for awhile , have been in this same place at one time if not many times. I know for me, I often have thought about throwing in the dish towel! All the pure pressure of having to do this or that the “right way”, or wondering if they will like me, etc… is just too much and can really take over. Kind of silly, if you really think about it.
I, too, started blogging because I love food and I love cooking. It has changed over the years for me, and while I still love the cooking and eating, the photography (sometimes the writing) really gets me! For me, once I decided I was doing Chez Us for me and not for the masses, everything clicked and fell into proper place. Now, I do what I do because it makes me happy and is my creative space in this big big world.
Keep doing what you are doing as I have said to others who struggle with the “why”, the cream always rises to the top!
Thanks, Denise! Such great advice. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Amen to that Lori!!! I definitely could not have said this better myself!!!
Thanks so much, Nancy!!
I’m glad you wrote this. I still struggle with making everything perfect, wishing this or that were different or thinking I should be doing something else, as far as my food or my blog photos. When I left my FT time job, I decided then that I would stop pretending. For someone who’s spent the better part of her life marching to the beat of her own drum anyway, I still tried to fit my blog into niches it didn’t belong. I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there. I look forward to following your journey! 🙂
Good for you, Rachel! I’m glad to hear you’ve made that decision. Thanks so much for following along!
Hear, hear. Those who are clearly into it “for the joy and the hobby of it all” are the only ones whose blogs I read any more. (Beautiful pics, too, by the way.)
Thanks, Michelle!
ALL OF THIS!!! Love this post so much.
Thanks, Suki!
Amen sister! I got caught up in the numbers game for awhile, feeling less successful and frustrated that I was compelled to compete. Then I forced myself to let it go. I don’t want to lose the joy for cooking, sharing, nurturing, teaching. Stay true to your course Lori, we’ll be here cheering you on!
Keeping the theme I want with my content is so important to me. Thanks, Jane!
Loved this paragraph: Not only did the foods I share have to change, so did how I presented them. When blogs tipped the scale at becoming full time professions, things changed for the rest of us, too. If you have a food blog you are expected to produce the Martha Stewart family of magazines style of content. To act as though, despite being only one person, you have a staff of 20 to test recipes, edit, give art direction, style and photograph.
This is why I resisted for so long about doing food porn photos because that isn’t real life. No one eats that way and no one serves up food that way, EVER, in real life. And I found it frustrating, yet I had to change because that’s what people expect so begrudgingly I started taking more food porn photos. If you don’t have pretty photos, people don’t stick around. I get it, I just hate it. But you’re right, the landscape of recipe blogs has changed so much. Parts of it I’m OK with and parts I’m not. I think I may need to write about this as well because my blog has certainly changed over these past years.
I can’t wait to read your post, Andrea! There is definitely a lot of pressure. I have to admit, since I’ve developed a love for styling and photography, I do fancy up my food quite a bit. 🙂 I realize this isn’t the norm for many, though!