Content Warning: This article includes discussions on child exploitation and prostitution.
In a candid interview on his YouTube vlog on November 8, Ninong Ry sat down with food content creator and entrepreneur, Erwan Heussaff, to discuss the evolution of his FEATR content and the responsibilities of storytelling in the Philippines. What began as a conversation about food and culture quickly delved into deeper and more uncomfortable truths about society, and some of the realities many would rather ignore.
READ: Erwan Heussaff weighs in on the Michelin Guide's debut in the Philippines
When asked about the content he initially wanted to include but removed from his videos because of possible YouTube flags, Erwan did not shy away from difficult topics. “I mean we see a lot of gruesome things like animal butchery, slaughtering, and everything which is fine. We've covered a few times,” he shared.
Yet, some subjects were off-limits. “There are some subjects before that we would stay away from like child pornography, like when we were doing our Siargao series, we actually didn't put this in because I wasn't really comfortable with it.”
He explained that the early goal was to protect the image of the Philippines, always highlighting the positive aspects of the culture. But as time passed, Erwan recognized the flaw in that way of thinking. “Before there was this idea to protect the image of what the Philippines is, and our culture, and to always try to shine a positive light on it. But now the way I look at it I think that's a disservice to Filipino people to not see the reality of things. And so, I think now we're a bit more accepting in kind of showing those things of speaking out politically and kind of like all those things.”
READ: What Erwan Heussaff Really Does for Filipino Cuisine
Erwannspoke about one of the most wonderful provinces in the country, often seen as a paradise for surfers. Behind its image, however, Erwann had uncovered darker stories. “Like everyone loves Siargao, right? But what a lot of people didn't know when Siargao was first kind of like visited by white people and surfers.”
“Before the surfers, there were actually other foreigners on the island and they were not there for the surfing. They were there for child pornography, and organ harvesting, and we've looked into it, and this is a long time ago,” he explained.
The James Beard Awardee did not intend to put the Philippines in a negative light, but he explained that they have been hearing a lot of taboo subjects that they initially stayed away from.
“Now, I'm not going to say we're going to dive head into it, but if the opportunity is there to shine a light on it and create [an] impact somehow, then we would do it. Awareness and change, right, and create change for people,” he explained.
READ: Erwan Heussaff Wins at the Worldwide James Beard Annual Awards, the “Oscars of Culinary”
Ninong Ry nodded thoughtfully, adding, “I think kung hindi mo ikukwento yung bagay na ‘yun, how will it change? Hindi naman sa nagpapaka-bayani tayo. It's about you being authentic sa pagku-kwento ng storya. You as a person na hindi kailangang magsinungaling, magtago ng bagay maganda man ‘yan o pangit.”
The conversation then shifted to how the romanticized image of the Philippines can mask reality. Erwan noted that part of telling authentic stories involves showing both the good and the challenging. “It's the same thing with our food, right? It's understanding that we have to stop romanticizing what the Philippines [is], you know?
“You ask anyone, ‘why do you look in the Philippines? Oh, because the people are so nice, right?’ You drive [on] EDSA and you realize ‘oh, maybe we're not so nice.’ You know what I mean?” he further explained.
Erwan also shared some advice for anyone thinking about diving into content creation, especially in food and lifestyle. “I think number one I always tell people is don't do it as a job. Do it as a hobby first. It has to start like you're not earning from it. You need to invest either time or money into it before you can actually generate any income from it.”
“Two, you need to be okay doing things for free. If you look at all my old videos, especially if eventually you want this to become a job, I would never remove the brand from my stuff,” he added.
He stressed that what really matters is purpose over profit. “I think what's the most important thing is eventually there needs to be a larger reason for you to be doing it.”
READ: Erwan Heussaff pokes fun at wife Anne Curtis' French skills at Paris Fashion Week
“And what's important there, is if you're chasing fame and virality and money, at one point that's going to become very toxic. But helping someone, regardless of who you are, helping someone will always make you feel good,” he added.
“That's why I always tell people doing something good will always make you feel good. And for you to keep being motivated about the work that you're doing, especially if you're not earning a lot of money, it needs to make you feel good,” he assured.
Erwan and Ninong Ry made it clear that storytelling is not just about entertaining people or getting views. It's about the courage and willingness to highlight one's culture and the social issues along with it.
At the end of the interview, Erwan shared that he remains proud of the goals they have been achieving with FEATR and that they want to just solidify themselves more. If given an opportunity, they are looking into producing more content on different platforms in the future.
“I think what we've accomplished and what we're doing is great already. And so, hopefully we just keep doing more of that. Things move really fast nowadays, but you know, we could be doing this for another 10 years, without having to have any bigger goals. But being who we are, we do want larger goals and we eventually would love to produce a long form documentary series about Filipino food that could be streamed, you know, internationally on international platforms. I think that's one of our bigger goals. I've talked to you about cookbooks before also. Just getting something in print would be really great also,” he shared.