This Blog Neverseconds has gone Viral. It is a fascinating little blog written by a inspirational and intelligent 'Young' lady. Martha Payne is 9yrs old and has been described as 'The unsquashable school meal crusader'.
My Grandmother was a Manager of school kitchens in the sixties and seventies. She had a no nonsense approach to cooking and like many from that era could make an tasty, healthy meal from not much at all. Quite frankly in the UK school meals need an awful lot of work on them. Euan enjoys a school lunch once a week. He goes for 'Roast Dinner Day'. This was his own idea and he only wants to go once a week, for the rest of the week he takes 'Jam' Sandwiches.
Martha had the idea of photographing and blogging her school lunch daily and it has caused quite a stir. It was really enlightening for me to see the photographs of the typical school meals. Martha is not rude about her school meals but as you flick through the blog you can see there was much room for improvement and over a few months Martha's school have made considerable positive changes to the school meal provision. Martha has 'stuck her neck out' and gently challenged the grown ups to make these changes. Another aspect to her blog is linking globally with other children and students who have photographed their lunch to be featured on the blog. It is fascinating to compare culturally and nutritionally the differences in content, nutritional value and cultural attitude for each lunch.
Martha also has a 'Just Giving Page' where she wanted to fund raise for less fortunate children abroad who do not get school meals or meals at all. Martha had the goal at aged nine, to raise £7000 to build a kitchen to feed other children. She has now raised £60 000 and it is rising fast. Watching the Visitor Counter on her blog is fascinating it changes faster than a digital timer. An amazing young lady, with and amazing blog, making an amazing difference! Go and take a look it is truly inspirational.
What an amazing blog! Thanks for posting about it :)
ReplyDeleteS x
Such a simple idea with a powerful message. I love the way she writes about her lunches. :)
Deleteone word... wonderful!!! ( i would have written wonderful in big capitals but autism is a funny thing)
ReplyDeletethank you xx
i'm glad i saw this, i'm not really online today as it's the birthdays weekend (busy, busy) but i have given myself a quick teabreak so that i can have a sneaky read of a favourite blog or two ;) yours is always one of the first i head for.
i'm a bit dissapointed ther's no chickens today though ;)
Afternoon Lucy, I'm glad the bureaucrats got over-ruled. I was surprised that someone didn't try to stop her earlier, I imagine some of the teachers and the catering (using the term loosely) staff wished she hadn't been given permission for that particular project!
ReplyDeleteI have good memories of my school dinners but when I saw her early photos I was shocked. Through her blog she has ensured that not only have her fellow pupils had their meals improved but, even more importantly, the money raised for Malawi will do so much more. Well done Martha, one little girl with a big heart has made a massive difference. I think she has a big future in front of her.
Carol xx
I agree Carol, where do you go from there if you achieve that at nine years old? Awesome fundraising. :) x
DeleteGo Martha:)
ReplyDelete:) x
Deletehiya, yes i will go and visit Martha's blog thankyou for posting the link (makes life a lot easier), i have read about it in the paper, i'm glad you have blogged about it here thankyou again
ReplyDeleteI could look at peoples lunches all day long! Perhaps it's the weight watcher thing! lol :) x
DeleteThat is truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing Lucy. I had to click on the Just Giving page after reading about the wonderful achievements of a nine year old!
ReplyDeleteKindest Regards Linda
She has raised nearly £70 000 at nine years old. The mind boggles... isn't she great! :) x
DeleteThanks for sending me to Martha's blog...very exciting to see the good that is coming from her efforts :)
DeleteGracie <3
I have been popping into her blog for a while - she is quite astounding! Thanks for making other people aware of her :)
ReplyDeleteLucy, I visited her blog only to find that the school has banned her from taking any more photos!! What a bummer for her and her readers!! Someone should do something about the school doing that to her! Thanks for sharing the link.. but I'm really bummed she's been shut down. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteIsn't she doing amazing things for raising the profile of dinners here in the UK? What we are feeding our kids is a real scandal and although she never intended to, Martha seems to be the one who is going to change things. I have been blogging about this too at http://cookeatfood.blogspot.co.uk/, will be popping back on here regularly to see what you're saying about it.
ReplyDeleteI saw this little girls blog on the news and thought what a great idea! Working in a school I get to witness the full horror of 'school dinners' and to be quite honest some of what I see dished up I wouldn't serve it to my cat. So much room for improvement, although I do know roast dinner day is the most popular! Some children are eating dinners which have been cooked since 10.30am, how can that be nutritionally healthy!
ReplyDelete