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.