VegNews Scandal: Try Helping Instead of Hindering

VegNews magazine has been very naughty. They’ve been using images of meat in their magazine and calling them vegan. For years, apparently. Read the full story on the QuarryGirl website, then have a think.

This is my take:

My all-veggie burger

Magazines and ads use food stylists all the time to make their dishes look irresistible. I use the word “dishes” purposefully because many times nothing on them is edible (like enhancing colour using lipstick) – or, it’s misleading (mashed potatoes standing in for ice cream because they look just as good but don’t melt.) You’ve been misled for years by food photos everywhere - not just those in VegNews. It’s common practice.

And then, it’s expensive to put together a print magazine. Especially in a niche market. Especially when your niche is vegan, soy-ink-using, recycled-paper-printing and responsible. I acknowledge that getting professional photos of every recipe and food featured in the magazine would cost a bundle and might not be feasible.

HOWEVER, in my opinion, neither of these are good reasons to:

a) Use photos that don’t reflect the recipes printed.

b) Mislead readers by showing images of meat instead of vegan products.

I have read that people are cancelling their subscriptions, just like they cancelled their GoDaddy accounts after watching the video of CEO Bob Parsons shooting the elephant. 

But this is different – presumably you still support the vegan cause. You want there to be a magazine sitting next to “BBQ Meat Monthly” that reflects your values. You also want VegNews to respond decisively and say they won’t do it again (rather than apologizing but offering no action). 

Having crappy images taken by staff in the test kitchen won’t reflect well on the magazine, nor on vegan food. The magazine could fold and go online to reduce costs, but then it would lose much of its visibility and reduce its audience.

Here’s another solution: instead of boycotting VegNews, why not support its efforts to use all-vegan food in their pictures? Would you share your own photos. or donate them for free (with credit to you)? I’m not a photographer – obvious, if you’ve read my other blog posts – but I’d be happy to put forward a few of my good ones.

What do you think? Would you grant rights for VegNews to use your images?