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	the__ivorytower 2011-04-15 05:55 pm UTC (link)
	But there are so many pretty pictures of vegetables! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kosaginolegion 2011-04-16 06:35 pm UTC (link)
	This. I like meat as well as any carnivore, but with the possible exception of certain cuts of prime rib, I have to admit that veggies are far more photogenic. Not to mention capable of providing many examples of rule #42. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	brennalarose 2011-04-17 04:50 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, god yes. I have to say, the first time I ever considered seriously taking up still-life painting was when I saw Black Russian Tomatoes. Some of the heirloom varieties out there are amazingly photogenic and delicious. (Reply to this)(Parent)

amadi
2011-04-15 06:02 pm UTC (link)

I just went and looked at the site and in a short spin through saw gorgeous pictures of tofu curry, vegan sandwiches, pasta dishes... the world of vegetarian cooking is so diverse and cuts across so many different wonderful traditions of food, there's just really no excuse. And I say that as a foodie (who wishes to have the resources and skill to take good food pictures, my queendom for a kitchen with decent lighting) more than as a vegetarian.

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sandglass
2011-04-15 06:29 pm UTC (link)

The non-apology wants you to download a PDF, so here's the text:

April 14, 2011

Dear VegNews Readers:

The entire VegNews family is deeply saddened with the dialogue that has transpired over the last 12 hours. As an ethical vegan magazine, owned-and-operated by vegans since its inception, VegNews is a labor of love, totally motivated by our dedication to ending animal suffering. Please understand the following:

—VegNews is a privately owned, independent publication with no funding or investors. Publishing a magazine is extremely costly—with exorbitant costs for printing, postage, paper, and production. In fact, the majority of independent magazines fold within three years. Eleven years ago, we recognized the power of the media in spreading a compassionate message that vitally needed to be heard, and committed to producing a vegan magazine that could compete with mainstream publications.

—Eleven years later, we are proud to say that VegNews has won numerous major magazine awards, sits on the newsstand next to titles such as O, The Oprah Magazine and Martha Stewart Living, and is fulfilling its mission of packaging veganism in an appealing and accessible way so that we can reach as many people as possible. Through our family of properties, we now reach more than 1 million readers each month.

—Yes, from time to time, after exhausting all options, we have resorted to using stock photography that may or may not be vegan. In an ideal world we would use custom-shot photography for every spread, but it is simply not financially feasible for VegNews at this time. In those rare times that we use an image that isn’t vegan, our entire (vegan) staff weighs in on whether or not it’s appropriate. It is industry standard to use stock photography in magazines—and, sadly, there are very few specifically vegan images offered by stock companies. In addition, it’s exceedingly challenging to find non-stock imagery that meets the standard necessary for publication. We would love nothing more than to use only vegan photography shot by vegan photographers, and we hope to be there soon.

At VegNews, we are working hard to change the world for the better, and do whatever we can within our means to make that happen. We deeply appreciate your years of readership and support, and look forward to working together to create a more compassionate future.

With gratitude,
The VegNews Team

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	tofuknight 2011-04-15 07:41 pm UTC (link)
	Wait... are they implying that they want pictures taken by vegans? Does the meat contaminate the artistic vision or something? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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visp, 2011-04-15 10:41 pm UTC

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puipui, 2011-04-16 01:19 am UTC

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vzg, 2011-04-18 03:12 am UTC

	shinga 2011-04-15 06:36 pm UTC (link)
	I just... this baffles me. Why on earth would you post meat on a Vegan site?? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	emily_goddess 2011-04-16 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Because those stock photos were cheap? I'm kinda on the magazine's side on that point (although their subsequent comment deletion and nonpology were both hilariously wanky). (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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lied_ohne_worte, 2011-04-17 07:23 am UTC

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emily_goddess, 2011-04-17 01:36 pm UTC

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vzg, 2011-04-18 03:15 am UTC

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lady_ganesh, 2011-04-19 02:31 am UTC

	bienegold 2011-04-15 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Knowing how food styling works, there probably wasn't that much meat involved in the first place. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	bienegold 2011-04-15 07:21 pm UTC (link)
	That said, using stock photos at all for recipes that you're publishing seems a bit odd. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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tangentialone, 2011-04-15 08:21 pm UTC

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visp, 2011-04-15 10:37 pm UTC

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puipui, 2011-04-16 01:20 am UTC

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visp, 2011-04-16 01:41 am UTC

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cmdr_zoom, 2011-04-15 11:41 pm UTC

	beachlass 2011-04-15 10:07 pm UTC (link)
	Well, if you read this comment, they'll explain that with a cell phone and a high school home ec class, you can do away with all that fancy pants food styling and professional photography. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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visp, 2011-04-15 10:40 pm UTC

	cygnia 2011-04-15 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	I was wondering what the hubby was talking about yesterday when he mentioned "vegan sundae photo debacle"... (Reply to this)

	beachlass 2011-04-15 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	I'm glad I'm wearing fur while reading this. (Reply to this)

	littleshebear 2011-04-15 10:06 pm UTC (link)
	Appropriate icon is appropriate. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	braisinhussy 2011-04-15 10:28 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! I was so pleased I had one that fit. :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

visp
2011-04-15 10:33 pm UTC (link)

Aha! Vegan food is fake so their magazines have to take pictures of real food and doctor them to make them look like vegan food. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! Like fuzzy pictures of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster! Kidding, kidding! The real reason the magazine doesn't make, test and photograph its own recipes because who the hell would want to eat or look at vegan food?

All joking aside, the "real meat is so disgusting" view that the magazine espouses is hilariously undercut by them using pictures of real meat to promote their products. If I was a vegan, used to people mocking my food choice on a daily basis, I really wouldn't appreciate my lifestyle magazine adding more fodder to it - which is essentially what this does. I think that's the reason everyone's so upset.

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littleshebear
2011-04-15 11:10 pm UTC (link)

If I was a vegan, used to people mocking my food choice on a daily basis, I really wouldn't appreciate my lifestyle magazine adding more fodder to it.

This, exactly this. I'm pretty ticked off by this and I'm tired of people defending the magazine in terms of the good they've done for the movement in the past. If you're setting out to acheive something, do it honestly or there's no point. They've completely undermined whatever good they've done and shot themselves in the foot to boot. Saving money on photography is no help at all if you end up alienating your readership in the process.

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visp, 2011-04-16 01:49 am UTC

	sandglass 2011-04-16 11:47 pm UTC (link)
	I'd be really upset at the magazine in essence lying to them. That's not what the results of the recipe look like, under any stretch of the imagination! Not even like, "Your food could look like this if you were awesome and a professional and sprayed it with hairspray and photoshopped it after you made it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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visp, 2011-04-17 02:18 am UTC

	risha 2011-04-15 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	On the upside, there probably isn't any meat at all in those meat pictures. Professional photographers don't usually cook up an actual burger to shoot. Mmm, tasty, tasty plastic. (Reply to this)(Thread)

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the__ivorytower, 2011-04-15 11:57 pm UTC

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bienegold, 2011-04-16 12:19 am UTC

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argylespy, 2011-04-16 12:57 am UTC

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the__ivorytower, 2011-04-16 01:25 am UTC

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sandglass, 2011-04-16 11:24 pm UTC

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visp, 2011-04-16 12:50 am UTC

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vzg, 2011-04-18 03:21 am UTC

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lady_ganesh, 2011-04-19 02:34 am UTC

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vzg, 2011-04-18 03:24 am UTC

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the__ivorytower, 2011-04-18 03:34 am UTC

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vzg, 2011-04-18 04:29 am UTC

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bcaluroso, 2011-04-20 10:29 pm UTC

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emily_goddess, 2011-04-16 10:57 pm UTC

	puipui 2011-04-16 01:25 am UTC (link)
	If only they could've somehow turned the pictures into carnivorous animated gifs, we could've combined this wank with that one on CW! (Reply to this)(Thread)

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evilsqueakers, 2011-04-16 02:35 am UTC

Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :(

singe
2011-04-16 12:49 pm UTC (link)

Some men hunt for sport,
Others hunt for food,
The only thing I'm hunting for,
Is an outfit that looks good...

See my vest, see my vest,
Made from real gorilla chest,
Feel this sweater, there's no better,
Than authentic Irish setter.

See this hat, 'twas my cat,
My evening wear - vampire bat,
These white slippers are albino
African endangered rhino.

Grizzly bear underwear,
Turtles' necks, I've got my share,
Beret of poodle, on my noodle
It shall rest,

Try my red robin suit,
It comes one breast or two,
See my vest, see my vest,
See my vest.

Like my loafers? Former gophers -
It was that or skin my chauffeurs,
But a greyhound fur tuxedo
Would be best,

So let's prepare these dogs!

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Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

cmdr_zoom, 2011-04-16 03:38 pm UTC

Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

puipui, 2011-04-16 07:25 pm UTC

Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

visp, 2011-04-17 04:40 am UTC

Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

puipui, 2011-04-17 05:07 am UTC

Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

kittikattie, 2011-04-19 09:30 am UTC

Re: Not a single Simpson's icon do I have. :( -

vzg, 2011-04-18 03:25 am UTC

	Seems an appropriate post shark 2011-04-16 04:42 pm UTC (link)
	So, who here has recipes for vegan sausage? (Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: Seems an appropriate post -

lied_ohne_worte, 2011-04-17 07:27 am UTC

Re: Seems an appropriate post -

munchkinott, 2011-04-18 04:54 pm UTC

platedlizard
2011-04-16 07:02 pm UTC (link)

Do you like looking at pictures of meat? How about a juicy beef burger, covered in egg mayonnaise with cow fat dripping off? Perhaps some soft, meaty chunks of chicken breast in chicken stock and cream? What about a pork sausage, oozing in pig fat, fresh from the slaughterhouse? OK, let’s tone it down a little. Perhaps you like to look at egg mayonnaise potato salad, made with eggs from those poor battery hens that are dead basically from the moment they are born. How about creamy mac and cheese made with real cow’s milk, pulled painfully from their sore and tender udders, infused with antibiotics, pain and anguish?

I got to admit, whenever vegans writes stuff like this, it just makes me hungry.

/off to eat some KFC before I go torture a dragon

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schrodingerscat, 2011-04-16 08:27 pm UTC

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libelle, 2011-04-22 07:53 pm UTC

innocentsmith
2011-04-16 09:51 pm UTC (link)

That site's graphics are stock-photo-o-rama. My guess is, they don't actually test the recipes themselves, they just aggregate content from other sources. And quite often there's no picture attached to an article, or there is but it's unusable because of lighting or irrelevance* or just looking nasty, so the content manager or whoever's in charge of such things has to go through stock photo sites looking for something that vaguely resembles how they think the food's supposed to look. It can be a little frustrating.

And you know, fair enough: not every multi-topic magazine or website can afford to have an in-house test kitchen and food photographer, or to pay food writers to generate entirely new content just for them. Not every small town newspaper can afford to have a foreign correspondent, but they still need to report on world news.

It was stupid as hell to try to photoshop meat into vegan food, and they were bound to be caught at it, but I do kind of get it. Where these guys went really wrong was with the snotty response to a legitimate complaint.

* Man, if I had a dime for every time recipe articles were, like, "Whole Grain Banana Pancakes with Whipped Cream and Bourbon-Maple-
Pecan Syrup" and the attached pic was a drawing of a sheaf of wheat. Argh.

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pfeffermuse
2011-04-18 02:03 am UTC (link)

Having worked in magazine publishing, the use of stock photos doesn't really bother me. For the most part, most "foods" photographed for publication are non-edible, whether or not they're vegan.

As recipes are not subject to the same copyright restrictions as other published text, I'm wondering more if VegNews has been veering down the same path as Cooks Source. While I doubt they're plagiarising, they're probably "adapting" meat, pescetarian and vegetarian recipes into vegan ones, and using the stock photos to save on purchase and preparation costs for the food, as well as not having to pay a cooking and/or photo staff.

And depending on how they've contracted their print-publishing run, they may be offsetting some of that cost by piggybacking with another smaller-run magazine, which might cover anything from hair-dressing to hare-dressing.

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