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Nanaimo content creator finds food following on TikTok

Matt McCamon, known as MattyFeedsPeople, offers tips on balanced eating
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Matt McCamon, a Nanaimo TikTok content creator, stands in front of the Mallard Lounge at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler during his culinary apprenticeship. (Submitted photo)

A self-proclaimed “snack daddy” on social media wants people to know that having a busy life and leading a healthy lifestyle is possible.

Nanaimo’s Matt McCamon has been creating content with that idea in mind on TikTok as MattyFeedsPeople since late 2020. Since then, he’s garnered nearly half a million followers and more than 7.2 million likes for his videos.

@mattyfeedspeople Come make dinner for the fam! #dinner #roast #sauce ♬ original sound - MattyFeedsPeople

“My brand is being able to go out and do things on the same day that you work – you can come home and still make a healthy dinner for yourself. Don’t just go get fast food or don’t just go out for dinner,” the 24-year-old said. “Cooking is part of my lifestyle … I go to the grocery store almost every single day.”

The lifestyle TikToker said his love for food started very young and has continued into his adulthood.

“When I was younger, my grandpa would literally have me up on top of the fridge watching him cook. He was a chef and a carpenter himself … I always wanted to be around him and watch him cook and watch him build.”

Like his grandpa, McCamon also loves to build and is currently enrolled in a carpentry program at Vancouver Island University, though his first passion saw him attend the university’s “world-class” culinary arts program straight out of secondary school.

After VIU, McCamon then spent five years during his apprenticeship at the “No. 1 hotel and resort in Canada,” Fairmont Chateau Whistler, where he gained a different kitchen experience every six months. His zeal for food saw him through to Camosun College in Victoria where he earned his Red Seal certification.

However, when he moved back to Nanaimo a desire to build and work with wood soon developed, leading McCamon to take on part-time weekend carpentry projects while still working as a full-time chef. He fell in love with the new trade and pivoted to working full-time on carpentry projects, part-time as a chef, and returned to VIU to enrol in the carpentry program.

“My love for culinary will always be there – you cook every day of your life. And I’m so glad that I did that to start because that’s going to be a skill that I’m going to use forever,” he said. “I feel like that the two career paths that I’ve chosen are things that I’m going to be able to use in my life.”

Although McCamon’s daily grind has him building with his hands, his social media followers point him squarely back to food.

At the start of last year, the TikToker only wanted to share his ‘tricks of the trade’ and show different ways of cultivating a balanced diet. The near-immediate feedback surprised him, he said, as one of his videos in which he discusses the importance of eating an array of colourful foods brought him approximately 100,000 followers overnight. Several of his videos have gone viral with millions of views.

“People were invested in what I was doing … and I get comments all the time that it makes them happy to watch me cook and things like that,” McCamon said, adding that he appreciates the thought of bringing light to someone’s life during the dark months of winter.

His short, upbeat videos on life, cooking, eating a balanced diet, and even a little carpentry, can be found on TikTok under the username MattyFeedsPeople.

READ MORE: TikTok creator from Gabriola Island finds foraging followers


mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com

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Mandy Moraes

About the Author: Mandy Moraes

I joined Black Press Media in 2020 as a multimedia reporter for the Parksville Qualicum Beach News, and transferred to the News Bulletin in 2022
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