So, feel free to grab the lovely little document here:

T.O.F.U. teaser (PDF, 2.9 Mb)

Drop us a comment to let us know what you think, and get ready for the full thing to be available in the next few days!

“now here’s a vegan magazine i can get behind! T.O.F.U. is a small diy operation, and all of their issues are available as pay-what-you-can digital downloads. they’ve released a teaser of their upcoming 5th issue which you can download here, and it’s chock full of tempting recipes, activism and diy tips, reviews, and personal spotlights. oh, and all the pictures are gorgeous and totally vegan!”

T.O.F.U.: a vegan magazine worth supporting

So, although I suspect you already do, head on over to Quarrygirl and give them some love in return. Chances are you’ll learn a thing or two.

VegNews is putting the MEAT into vegan issues

As someone involved in the publishing business, though not to such an extent as VegNews, I have always battled with several things involving the vegan “purity” of the magazine. The big ones would involve things like booking a tour date in a non-vegan bar, having people involved with the project who are not vegan, promoting companies that are not 100% vegan, and including articles that may not be completely relevant to veganism itself.

However, I can not say I have ever debated whether or not using stock photos of animal products was acceptable.

Furthermore, even though it is not a major issue with T.O.F.U. as of yet, I try to keep an open platform for both praise and criticism with what we do. If I was afraid of a little bit of negative writing, I wouldn’t be vegan, and I certainly would not be promoting the lifestyle with a magazine!

As a business, VegNews has a bottom line. With a large staff working on every issue, the bills have to be paid and corners will be cut. So, to some degree, I can see the trail of decisions that probably led to the use of stock photos. They’re cheap, they’re easily accessible, they’re high quality, and for the most part, the difference goes unnoticed.

Sadly, they’re not vegan.

So, am I saying people should jump from the VegNews ship? No. They have done plenty of good for the veg* community, and I think in a lot of ways that outweighs the use of these photos. What I do think we should be doing is looking for an explanation. If the concern is really about the bottom line, then perhaps VegNews can start looking to the vegan community for pictures? T.O.F.U. magazine has been lucky enough to have amazing contributors (all volunteer!) who offer their writing, photos, music and numerous other talents just to see an issue happen. Maybe VegNews should look a little further online than istockphoto for their (not so vegan) bread and butter?

Regardless of how you feel about the newest scandal in our community, you’re always welcomed to check out our little publication, and you can do so without wondering about what you’re really drooling over.

Taken from: Quarrygirl forums

Saw this on ye olde Twitter today, and I figured it was an interesting point to touch on.

For me, being vegan is about trying to reduce the number of products I purchase, consume, use, etc… that involve animals. I have not lost sleep over the idea that somewhere in the run of my day something might slip in that involved an animal, but I do try to filter it all out.

So, does this graphic mean a true vegan can not exist in today’s modern world? In a society where industry has discovered ways to use every part of an animal that most of us would never even dream of, can we be a strict vegan?

This leads me to wonder where everyone else draws the line? In the past, T.O.F.U. has subtlety poked fun at those who identify as vegetarian while still eating fish, a little chicken, etc… Is it any different when we identify as vegan and still eat things involving refined sugar? Or what about those who still wear animal products? Or who still drink non-vegan beer?

If we had the Vegan Police like in the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World it would be easier. Of course, if we had super powers like the movie also suggests, maybe we wouldn’t need a police force?

Super heroes or not, does a true vegan stand a chance in today’s world? Are vegans extinct? Did one ever really exist?