9-Year-Old Blogger No Longer Censored for School Lunch Commentary and Photos
- Posted on June 15, 2012 at 10:58pm by
Liz Klimas
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LONDON (The Blaze/AP) — A 9-year-old blogger won a food fight with authorities in her Scottish town Friday, after an online outcry prompted officials to lift a ban on posting photos of her school lunches.
Martha Payne’s images of uninspiring school meals – one consisted of two croquettes, a plain cheeseburger, three slices of cucumber and a lollipop -drew international attention. The blog — NeverSeconds — set up about six weeks ago as a writing project and to help raise money for a school-meals charity, has drawn more than 2 million hits.
Martha, who lives in the coastal town of Lochgilphead, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) west of Edinburgh, gave each meal a “food-o-meter” rating, and offered an assessment of its contents.
Rated at a 4/10. (Photo: NeverSeconds)
This one got a 6/10 (Photo: NeverSeconds)
“I’d really like to know where the chicken comes from,” she wrote in an entry about chicken fajitas, “so I am going to write to the lady in charge to ask. I know it comes from a hen but I’d like to know where the hen lived.”
Recently, local and worldwide news picked up on Payne’s blog, which alerted school officials to her unappetizing photos and criticism of the food. The school ordered the schoolgirl to stop taking pictures.
In a statement, Argyll and Bute Council said Payne’s photos were misleading and had caused distress to cafeteria staff. The council was particularly irked by a report about the blog in Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper headlined “Fire the Dinner Ladies.”
The council complained of “unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service” and said the blog “misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils.”
As a result, it said, “a decision has been made by the council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen.”
On Thursday, Martha wrote a final post on the blog “Goodbye” and her father later elaborated upon it:
This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head teacher and taken to her office. I was told that I could not take any more photos of my school dinners because of a headline in a newspaper today.
I only write my blog not newspapers and I am sad I am no longer allowed to take photos. I will miss sharing and rating my school dinners and I’ll miss seeing the dinners you send me too. I don’t think I will be able to finish raising enough money for a kitchen for Mary’s Meals either.
Goodbye,
VEGHi,
Veg’s Dad, Dave, here. I felt it’s important to add a few bits of info to the blog tonight. Martha’s school have been brilliant and supportive from the beginning and I’d like to thank them all. I contacted Argyll and Bute Council when Martha told me what happened at school today and they told me it was their decision to ban Martha’s photography.It is a shame that a blog that today went through 2 million hits, which has inspired debates at home and abroad and raised nearly £2000 for charity is forced to end.
To be fair, the blog frequently positive assessments as “lunch was really nice today and it helped cheer me up.”
A 10/10 meal posted on NeverSeconds. (Photo: NeverSeconds)
A 10/10 meal that Martha writes is her favorite. (Photo: NeverSeconds)
Rated at a 9/10 (Photo: NeverSeconds)
The ban quickly became an online talking point Friday, with free speech group the Index on Censorship even weighing in on Payne’s behalf. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tweeted “Stay strong Martha” to his more than 2 million followers.
The Internet storm was quickly followed by an official U-turn. Council leader Roddy McCuish said he had ordered officials to lift the ban on cafeteria photos.
He praised Martha as “an enterprising and imaginative pupil.”
“There is no place for censorship in this council and never will be whilst I am leader,” McCuish said.
Amid the blaze of publicity, donations to Mary’s Meals, the charity the blog had been promoting, climbed from 3,000 pounds ($4,700) to almost 20,000 pounds ($31,000) Friday.
Still, an update has yet to be made to Martha‘s blog after yesterday’s goodbye.
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Comments (78)
chips1
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:58am“Today is supprise dessert day and we all know what that means. Yes, boys and girls. Today we get, ‘puppy-on-a-stick’”
Report Post »hotteamakers
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 11:24amThose Are Nursing Home Sized Portions
Kids need growing size portions not End of Life Sized portions. Communists always create famines and starve their opponents to death (children too) when they gain control of a country. When hostilities break out in America do not take Liberals’ troops prisoners.
Report Post »CASDEE10
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:40amLet me get this right. The 90 pound girl and the 200 pound football player get to eat the same amount.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 17, 2012 at 12:45amYou can eat better than this in jail. This is pathetic.
Report Post »NLN
Posted on June 17, 2012 at 9:12amThe school should load em up and take them to BK or Mcd’s. Go get a decent meal Surly they have them over there.
Report Post »justice41
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:07amStudents have always complained about school lunches. My surprise was seeing a few actually remembered their school lunches with favor. I volunteer in an elementary school with a high minority percentage. These children get both breakfast and lunch at school. I have seen children exiting a school bus arriving late with tears fearing that they had missed breakfast. In fact, they had not. Talking to these children they throughly enjoy their meals at school, unfortunate without the school meals, they would have none at all. My club also packs school bags with food for the children to take home for the weedend. Generally it is simply uncooked rice, beans, a couple of individual oatmeal packages and a couple of individual snacks. I fear that for some families that is their sole food for the weekend. I had never believed that people went hungry in the US with all the food banks, food stamps, soup kitchens, etc. Now I find that I was wrong. Is it the parents sole fault? I don’t have the solution, it makes no sense, why don’t these families have gardens? A garden need not take up a lot of space, some food can be grown in small containers. Are they that ignorant? Why do they not help themselves?
Report Post »ADNIL
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:38amI’m with you on this about gardens. I have a big one and can, freeze, and root cellar food. therefore, the dollars I have to spend go much farther. I live in rural Maine; lots of poor and low income people and lots of space. One of the things I like to do when I drive any distance is to count gardens. Last drive of 50 miles I counted less than 10 and some were of the “postage stamp” variety; 6 tomato plants in an 8 x 10 foot plot. But lots of satellite dishes to be seen, even on the poorest of trailers and tar-paper shacks.
Gardening is a lot of work. It is “stoop” labor in the hot sun. And so much can go wrong anywhere along the way, even if you ARE experienced at it. It is a commitment of time, effort, and a little bit of money. Then the battle with the weather: too wet, too dry, hail storms, wind, late or early frosts, and pests: bugs, slugs, worms, beetles, animals: deer, woodchucks, skunks, rats, moles, raccoons (even your own dogs and cats digging things up). You have to plant way more than you expect to need to get anything at all. Then it all comes at once and you have to know how to store it, have the equipment and time to do the work, and the space to do it. I learned how to do much of this growing up from my parents who survived the 1st Great Depression and have been doing this right along. I believe it is a dying art. Besides, EBT cards are Soooooooooooo much easier, so, why would people bother with gardens?
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:47amThank you for your kindness. My daughtwer is a teacher in Akron City, and has the same problems. They know many kids have little to eat and it’s huge for them to have breakfast and lunch at school. They also have sweats in all sizes and washers and dryers to chean the kids clothes. The teachers often pitch in (you know, those greedy ones?) to help pay light and gas bills, and send food home for holidays. Some of the kids are in really tough places, and unemployment makes it even harder. Real poverty hits kids the hardest, while it’s hard to be happy about those who misuse welfare, just remember the kids didn’t ask for it, and they are tho ones suffering for it. Saddest part is how few make it out.
Report Post »TreeTrimmerJim
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 11:28amIts so easy to create dependency, one meal at a time. Parents the world over stop feeding their offsprings to insure their offspring’s self reliance.
Report Post »Brayon
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:06pmMight not be pure laziness. I would like to have a garden, but due to restrictions from the Apartment complex, not allowed too. Not everyone can do as you suggest, for a variety of reasons.
Report Post »IMAWAKENOW
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:14pmGardens require some effort. A large majority of the people who can’t manage to pick up the free food provided by those of us that do work are not used to having anything to do with responsibility or effort. It is hard to work the weeding and watering into their beer drinking and TV watching schedules.
Report Post »iq1402xalib
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:29pmIf you want to do a very productive garden that is inexpensive and easy to set up and do try Aquaponics. You could keep your whole neighborhood fed with a large backyard.
A google search results… http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=aquaponics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8.
My personal favorite site is FriendlyAquaponics…. you can learn everything you need to know just by reading their archived newsletters.
Report Post »leewaygulf5
Posted on June 17, 2012 at 8:41amA garden? Really? Just how much “garden grown” food do you expect someone living in a 800 sq. ft apartment to grow with no arable land to use, that will feed a family of four or more?
Report Post »Oh, you want them to use pots to grow enough food to supplement with? Have you tried that lately?
One or two tomatoes and or a few bell peppers is not going to be enough by any stretch of the imagination to feed these kids.
I know the food banks and pantries are drying up and that’s a shame for these families. Many schools in California offer free breakfast and lunches (sometimes for the entire school population) to these “at risk/needy” kids. Many of these kids families make too much money ( by as little as $1.00) to qualify for food stamp assistance and if not for these school programs, their kids would not get any breakfast / lunch, let alone dinner.
I hope Beck’s efforts to get trucks full of food to these needy areas can continue. I know I’ll support those efforts.
Inlightofthings
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:03amRob…murder…video games….one long, tough day for these guys eh?
Report Post »hotteamakers
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 11:26amKids in China eat more than that.
Report Post »GP100
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:41amSo the lunch ladies are distraught over the photos and the school shuts down the blog. Perhaps they should fix the problem instead of censoring the girl. Why not use the publicity to motivate the kitchen staff to do a better job and provide the kids with higher-quality meals? She should be praised for having the courage to bring this issue to light.
Report Post »BLACKDIAMONDSKIER
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:18amAgreed…..A great way to think about things. Truth never fails. Censorship is just a way for truth to be covered up.
Truth always works in favor of goodness.
Report Post »Evil always works to suppress the truth.
Jenny Lind
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:51amRemember what they said? These lunches are purchased and brought in. Many schools don’t fix their own, they just serve them. Oh and not many have the salad bar Michelle thinks is so cool, budgets don’t allow for them.
Report Post »neidermeyer
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 8:57amI wish the schools here outsourced/catered the lunchroom ,, they have an enormous budget and great equipment ,, I buy their “used” equipment at auction and resell to restaurants ,, it’s all top of the line and barely used ,, or at least I used to when restaurants were doing well … for the money they bring in ,, not only from schoolchildrens $2 or so for lunch ,, but from grants and various feeding programs they spend very little on the food itself.. I could run a facility and clear an easy $0.75/meal/child per day after all expenses. WHAT A RACKET!
Report Post »TreeTrimmerJim
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 11:37amMotivate whom? Parents are the only people responsible for their offsprings, everyone and every other group is a fill in whose main interest in financial. Take away the financial aspect all others will leave the child, leaving the parent to do what Nature’s laws have demanded of parents since time begin, to care for and educate their young so they, the children, become self reliant.
There are no short cuts. When parents do not remain involved with their children’s up bring in every way, everyone loses. Successful parents, grow successful children.
Lousy meals at school, lousy parents at home. Lousy education at school, lousy parents at home. No excuses.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:44pm@tree
Agree. Parenting well, seems to be a “lost-art” now-a-days for many lazy-parents. Gee..wonder why “the nanny-state” is getting to be so popular. Hmmm
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:30amWhere is the obligatory small carton of white or chocolate milk? The kid has a tiny cup of water.
The trays are very clever. The trays act as bowls/plates. Plus there is a niche for everything including forks/spoons and handles also. This must save a lot of time/money over the old rectangular tray topped with separate bowls and plates that all must be washed separately.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:38amOurs wasn’t as cute, but we had a tray with spaces for things back in the 70′s. I grew up in Missouri and they were like what I see for camping…large plastic with different size divided sections and a long one on one side for silverware. Everything fit except the milk,
Report Post »IMAWAKENOW
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:27pmMY SANDWICH AND APPLE FIT IN A PAPER BAG. We didn’t have crap when I was a kid. Mom managed to pack us kids a lunch though. I think the carton of milk cost 3 cents at that time. Kids won’t put up with having to brown bag it at school anymore. To top it off, most of them are pretty chubby.
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:14amWhat a brillant idea.
At least ONE child in EVERY school ought to take pictures of the daily lunch. It will keep the school cafeteria and the MASSIVE agribusiness behind it HONEST. Our taxpayer money is subsidizing the food or outright paying for the whole thing – we have to right to see what the kids are eating and the kids have a right to judge it.
The UK just implemented NATIONAL police can view everything on anyone’s computer police without a court order 24/7. What a DISGRACE and a stripping of privacy. It is NOT surprising that living in a UK police state like this, they would stamp out a little girls blog on her school cafeteria food. With the new law in police, the police are probably reading all her emails,etc and making sure she doesn’t post.
Report Post »midnightvelvet
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:36pmI have to wonder about the British sometimes. They put up with this stuff, and there never seems to be a peep out of them.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:14amThey feed the kids a lot less now than when I was in school. Of course, I never went to school in the UK. Thanks be to GOD.
Report Post »John in Connecticut
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:06amKETCHUP ON A HOT DOG! You don’t put ketchup on a hot dog!
Report Post »Inlightofthings
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:48amI could never understand ketchup on a hotdog…mustard and relish here.
Report Post »MsMonsoon
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 11:00amI love ketchup and relish on my dog. Chopped onions too.
Hot, spicy mustard on a pastrami with swiss, now that’s good!
Report Post »midnightvelvet
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:43pmKetchup is great on a hotdog. But you need to add relish, mayo, mustard and chopped onions too.
Report Post »MRMANN
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 6:41amI‘m sick of authorities’ picking on kids who are doing good, like running a lemonade stand; or this girl blogger with her Mary’s Meals goal. Someone has way too much time on their hands!
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 5:40amThese school people have a captive dinning clientel and they are pizzed when the students lay out of school. It is nothing to do with them learning. They want to make sure everyone is paid by the government to them. They have to have a budget to send in to the government every year to justify so many lunches being paid for or some amount being paid for. They cannot send in a big amount if a large percent of students are missing school everyday. Do you really think they care if your kids learn at school? It is another scam.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 5:36amSo this little tad of food is what the kid are being fed. What are they doing with the money?
Report Post »Inlightofthings
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:51amThe cost on these has got to be $.30 – $.40 tops. Are the lunch ladies union with the golden parachute bennies and pensions.
Report Post »mbean
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 3:52amThe National Socialist looney left is in control of Europe.
Report Post »Pro-Palin
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 2:56amfunny thing our highschool paper did a artical of the standards and lunch quallity the studends are served. All for PC or govy says so vS going above the lowest minimum u can get away with.
Report Post »coldnorth
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:45amWhen I went to school in the 80′s in Rural Minnesota, the food was cooked on site. The only thing that was suspect was the square pizza dough, and the soy burgers. All in all, the food was good. Now I look at the food they serve in school and am disappointed. For all the lip service that department of Ed. pays to proper education, they fail when it comes to putting it in to practice. I don’t think they even heat the food at the school. They come in prepackaged containers on racks. chicken nuggets, hamburgers, burretos, etc. w/ your choice of chocolate or reg. milk.
Report Post »Last year I started packing a lunch for my son in the morning. I wish I could pack him left-overs, but the school doesn’t allow the kids to use the microwave. So most of the time it’s a cold sandwich, or wrap of some sort, an apple, carrots, and raw milk (since pasturized milk causes him to break out, imagine that?).
The side benifet is I save $$ School lunch cost 4.50 a meal
coldnorth
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:46amlip service towards proper nutrition
Report Post »Wreckguy
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:43amIsn’t it interesting the school lunch in Scotland would get most US kids thrown out of school on weapons charges.
Report Post »chitstirrer
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 5:29amI’m laughing because students in our school district are denied plastic knives because they are “weapons”.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:11am…
Report Post »School lunches are disgusting.
Someone sure needs to draw attention to the problem.
Thanks Kid.
Hmschlmom
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:06amWhen I was in High school, the food was famously bad…
They had what we called PEANUT BUTTER GREASE BARS, which were these odd peanut butter and powdered sugar things…served on paper rectangles, but by the time you bought them, the ridiculous amount of peanut oil in the things leeched onto the paper they served them on turning it transparent. You could throw them straight up and make them stick to the ceiling tiles in the cafeteria…(Not that I personally would have dreamed of such a thing…ahem.) They had the consistency of silly putty.
Then there were the mashed potatoes that you could pick up in one big lump with your fork…they ALWAYS kept the shape of the ice cream scoop “disher”… You could have used that stuff for grout! (with these odd green flecks that were supposed to be parsley)
The only thing they had that was any good (and it was FAB!) was this Stromboli type food. I swear…it was pizza filling in real phyllo dough…all flaky and golden. LOADED with cheese…YUMMY! ( Like a big toaster strudel filled with pizza!)
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 6:40amBack in the ’60s when I was in both Jr High, then High School you could hardly close a restroom stall door without reading on it “Flush twice, it’s a long way to the lunch room!”
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 7:16amIf your mashed potatoes taste anything like the Kentucky Fried Chicken chemicalized mashed potatoes with their wallpaper paste gravy, it is a wonder kids could eat it at all.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:36amWay to go Martha!!!!
Not only do you rock but your school lunches look like they taste like rocks…
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:06amI’m betting the ban is lifted except that little Martha was told not to take pictures that upset the applecart. I salute that little girl and the spirit that leads her to criticize authority. People in charge should never be in unopposed and should have to answer to public opinions. Her parents should nurture her spirit and support her as much as possible. She may someday become a leading and very articulate critic of entrenched authority. You go girl!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:59pmSoylent Green is made from people.
Report Post »Dr Vel
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 1:20amThey still served Soylent Yellow when I was in school. The plate looks tastier than those meals.
Report Post »mordey
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:52pm@booger71 into the mid 80′s(when i graduated) our lunch ladies were still making homemade food. the dinner rolls and Cinnamon rolls were to die for. the dinner rolls were served with homemade noodles and chicken. the cinnamon rolls with homemade chili. we had commodity butter and commodity peanut butter to put on them. the butter and peanut butter were served in pans on the table. we got as much as we wanted. the ladies that fixed our foods had been there years and years knew us all by name and what we wouldnt/couldnt eat. we loved them!! every holiday they got treats and gifts. they put love and attention into our food.
Report Post »BoliverBBucklenutz
Posted on June 16, 2012 at 12:04amI ermember that as well, same at my school back in the good old days except I was really into the chili Mac with that same home cooked roll and butter …. feel bad for kids these days
Report Post »pwatkins
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:29pmMichele Obama model lunches……
Report Post »lassiegirldawn
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:38pmBet her kids don’t eat that kind of crap.
Report Post »LovingAmerica
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:22pmNot only is this food completely disgusting, but it is obvious the food preparers take no pride in their profession. It is disrespectful and hateful to throw this garbage at little children. No wonder this little girl got in trouble for taking photos of her lunches. As it turns out, it is EVIDENCE – not lunch.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:31pmWhen ate school lunches in the late fifties through the 60′s the food was actually cooked from scratch by mostly older grandma types that knew how to cook. None of this frozen then reheated crap today stuffed with preservatives.
Report Post »Thedadde
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:08pmI know it’s not related, I don’t know the race involved here, LMAO, but I’m getting this out to as many as I can,…
Report Post »http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/18616119/police-indiana?clienttype=printable
lassiegirldawn
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:27pmFunny the only mention of black was the color of their car.
Report Post »v15
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:41pmI can imagine how it went down. “Yo, man, Jaquelyn got $85 in tips – that girl be ballin’. So…can you handle a shotgun?”
Report Post »