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Come to California and attend this eye-opening weekend event in October, for more info see: http://www.HealthyLifestyleExpo.com/

The bottom line of the QuarryGirl story is this: For several years VegNews has been Photoshopping photos of meat products and passing them off to their readers as vegan dishes that look and taste like the real thing.  In other words, they've been duping the public.

For example, VegNews ran a large photo of dripping ribs with a quote, "Here at VegNews we devour these savory sauce-covered spare ribs as often as possible!" 

Except the photo is actually a picture of some animal's ribs, and not actually a veg dish.

Let me give a disclaimer now: I have not been a fan of VegNews since the early days. Years ago, they went after me and VegSource in a tabloid, yellow rag, Rupert Murdoch-style attack, totally uncalled for. Especially since I had been very nice to them, helping and doing favors for Joe Connelly, the owner of VegNews, since starting up. I had to hire a lawyer to get Joe to print a retraction of the libelous crap he published about me. Two highly celebrated vegans, friends of both Joe and mine, had written protest letters to VegNews to set straight their position when they had been misquoted or their quotes had been twisted by VegNews -- but as I recall Joe wouldn't run their responses.  He didn't want his readers to know how these two celebrated vegan icons had criticized him and his antics.

Then there was that spurious attack on the Loving Hut restaurant chain a few months ago, where VegNews out and out lied about the group behind Loving Hut.  VegNews' baloney attack on Loving Hut and the assertion it was part of some dangerous cult -- was demolished in a beautiful article by Will Tuttle, linked here.

What was the purpose of attacking the Supreme Master group, and trying to dissuade vegans from supporting the largest chain of vegan restaurants in the world? I don't know, and seriously do not understand why anyone would do that.  I do understand why Joe would refuse to publish Will Tuttle's measured response -- because that would have been fair.

So what does it say about veganism that the self-proclaimed “top vegan magazine” (they do lie, so even that is a questionable claim) has to trick people with photos of animal products to try to make veganism look good?

Actually, it doesn’t say anything bad about veganism. It only reflects on VegNews.

To me, VegNews has proven itself time and again to be an outfit light in the integrity department.

The displeasure of vegans who have been fans and supporters of VegNews is rather pronounced.  Here's a sample of the reaction to VegNews meat photos by readers of the magazine:

Do you know how I found out about this? Two of my non-vegan friends called me laughing wondering if I knew that the delicious "vegan" recipes I am always showing them in your magazine are not vegan at all, but real "juicy hamburgers from de...ad cows, smothered with real cheese". They said no wonder the recipes looked so good, they were made with real meat and dairy. I didn't even know how to respond. I feel very betrayed by Vegnews, a magazine I loved and respected.

In response to the furor in the vegan community over learning we've been deceived, VegNews published a lame response, basically saying they're not happy people are talking about this, that it wasn't their fault, the sun was in their eyes, it was their employees' fault, and everything else. 

Even the New York Times has picked up the story, linked here, which also has a link to the VegNews "apology."

VegNews claims they used photos of meat and called them vegan because they couldn't afford to photograph the actual dishes. How believable is that? Just look at Bryanna Clark Grogan's blog, she posts new photos she takes of her dishes several times a week. She has no budget approaching anything like VegNews, gee, how can she possibly do it?

In my experience, Joe Connelly of VegNews is not capable of admitting fault.  Rather than simply take a page from the Hugh Grant school of apology -- "Wow I really messed up, I'm so sorry" -- he basically insulted his readers further by objecting to their right to even discuss this at all.

I guess now I should expect a new VegNews "expose," this time on VegSource about how we're grilling babies and drinking goblets of blood at our annual Healthy Lifestyle Expo.

There are some "news" outlets on TV where I don't trust a thing they report.  There are some magazines which fall into the same category -- and VegNews is one of them.

Now I'm going to do you a favor, Joe.  I'm going to write an apology for you:  "Dear VegNews Readers: It looks like we really messed up here.  I'm so sorry.  It won't happen again.  Please accept my apology.  Sincerely, Joe It-Ain't-Gonna-Happen Connelly."

You can read the full, fascinating QuarryGirl article that uncovered the photo deceit, at this link.

Review by Ruth Heidrich PhD

One of the best gifts to give yourself or anyone else is education!

 After all, most of the mistakes we all make are committed, not purposefully, but out of ignorance. This is especially scary when you consider all the misinformation out there in the field of nutrition. Arguably, ignorance is the number one cause of death when you consider all the heart disease, cancer, strokes, medical mistakes, etc. that could be prevented if people were educated about how eating animal food causes all these and a lot more. Strong statements, to be sure, but the scientific evidence is in.

One of the latest and best compilations of the evidence is in Kathy Freston’s latest book, Veganist, her attempt to remedy that situation. If you’re curious about the word “veganist,” she defines it as someone who looks closely at all of the implications of their food choices and choose to lean into a plant-based diet.

Just scanning the Table of Contents, you’ll see ten promises, each of which offers something that most, if not all, of us would grab in a heartbeat if it were that easy. Well, maybe it is! How about effortless weight loss; lowered risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; living longer and fitter; dodging superbugs and pandemics; saving lots of money; helping the environment; decreasing global starvation; reducing animal suffering; getting spiritually enlightened; and even evolving personal growth! With promises like these, what more could one ask for!

Most of these chapters follow a logical format: first, “Straight from The Source”: where she interviews experts in their fields, notables such as Dean Ornish, MD; T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.; Neal Barnard, MD; Caldwell Esselstyne, MD; and Michael Greger, MD. She then follows up with proof from the lives of real people, examples of the theory put into practice, and I know they are real-life because I am one of them!

If I could find any one fault with her approach, it would be that she is much too nice. She wants people to change at their own pace, such as, for example, first giving up just one animal. Then when you’re ready, give up another one, etc. I’d so much rather push the “urgency” factor, telling people tomorrow may be too late, and that without immediate action, with each hour that passes, more heart attacks will occur, many more animals will be tortured and killed, and our carbon footprint gets even larger. Patience, however, has never been one of my virtues and if, as the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, then this book is for you!

She does offer one strategy that most people find very effective when making the change to a healthier diet, and that is what she calls “crowding out” where you literally “crowd out” the unhealthy food by first filling up with the healthy food. This way you’re always satisfied and can more easily withstand temptation.

She ends the book with a three-week menu plan for those who would say, “What’s left to eat if you take away the meat?” And for those who’d like even more hand-holding, she’s even got a shopping list. I suspect there’s a vegan version for every conceivable animal-based food, and you could spend hours going through the tremendous variety of packaged vegan foods that are now readily available. There could be no excuses left for having to give up anything that anyone was addicted to. I would like to have seen a greater emphasis on just plain old whole foods from the Produce Department – no packaging, no labels to have to interpret, and save even more money to boot. But then there’s that “honey” factor because who couldn’t turn down such non-dairy ice cream temptations as Tofutti Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream sandwiches, Purely Decadent, Bliss, and Tempt!

This book may be the answer to the curious, the cautious, or even the skeptic, so read this book yourself and then get as many others to read it as you possibly can. It’ll do the world good!

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Ruth Heidrich is an Ironman Triathlete and author of A Race For Life, CHEF, and Senior Fitness. She is a former president of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii and the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club.

For more information from Amazon.com or to purchase a copy of VEGANIST, click here.