Halifax YouTuber is making waves in vegan cooking
Posted Jan 6, 2019 04:18:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When Olivia Biermann decided to become a vegan, she had no idea that it’d lead her to where she is today.
Biermann runs a YouTube channel called 'Liv B', and since she started the channel in 2015, she’s seen her subscribers climb to over 600,000.
She posts vegan cooking videos, some with over a million views.
She’s also publishing a vegan cookbook in February. The success was unexpected, she says, but it’s given her a platform to do what she loves.
Her content doesn't focus so much on veganism itself, she explains, nor does it try to sell you on the lifestyle. She says it’s about cooking delicious food that just so happens to also be vegan.
“I just get so inspired by things I see online,” she said in an interview with NEWS 95.7’s Todd Veinotte. “If I see a recipe that’s not vegan, like an amazing looking cake, it’s kind of like a challenge for me, I want to try and make it vegan.”
Biermann became a vegan while in university, after suffering from a number of health issues. Cutting out animal products made her feel better, she says.
“I definitely recommend that people go slow if they want to go vegan,” she said. It took her two years to fully transition to the lifestyle, cutting out dairy, eggs and meat one by one.
“I always say a good way to start is meatless monday, so doing a vegan or vegetarian meal on monday and then if they like it then they can do more days a week, but starting with that and having that as a goal is a really good one,” she said.
Biermann gravitated toward YouTube early on to learn how to cook vegan dishes for herself, and recommends the same for anyone else looking to try eating vegan.
Sharing her recipes and discoveries online came naturally to Biermann, who graduated with a communications degree. She’s managed to monetize her content, and is slowly making a career through YouTube.
Her cook book is called “Vegan on a Budget” and was inspired by her time in university when eating vegan was difficult on a student’s income.
“I like to develop recipes that are on the more affordable side because fruits and vegetables can be really expensive. I like to focus on foods that are vegan by nature like beans and grains and local vegetables that really keep the cost down,” she said.
The book comes out February 15 and will be available in both hard copy and online. Biermann says she’s excited where the book will take her, and to see how well it will do.
“Cooking shows and cook books are still a huge thing,” she said. “I think there's just always going to be a need for new recipes, and especially for vegan food, developing recipes that aren't just salads.”
