When it comes to making school lunches healthier, there seems to be a lot more talk than action going on for the most part. Everyone seems to agree they need to be more nutritious, but cafeteria trays remain filled with unhealthy fare. A 9-year-old in Scotland, however, got some swift results recently when she took to her blog and totally exposed her school lunch program for it was providing -- food that that seemed to contain more hair than vegetables.
Eww, I know ... which was exactly her point. It only took five posts on her blog, titled Never Seconds, before Martha Payne started attracting international attention for the ratings she was giving to the food served in her cafeteria each day. Her first entry was posted Tuesday, May 8:
The first pic is from last week and the second from today. The pizza in the first pic was alright but I'd have enjoyed more than 1 croquet. I'm a growing kid and I need to concentrate all afternoon and I cant do it on 1 croquette. Do any of you think you could?
Food-o-meter- 6/10
Mouthfuls- forgot to count but not enough!
Courses- main/dessert
Health Rating- 4/10
Price- £2
Pieces of hair- 0!
Subsequent posts follow the same format, and they're quite entertaining to read, especially May 14 when the hair count read: "1 (under the cucumber)".
Over the next couple of weeks, her blog started going viral. She was thrilled when Jamie Oliver sent her a message via Twitter: "Shocking but inspirational blog. Keep going, Big love from Jamie x". With the growing attention, the school acted, and quickly.
Her dad met with the powers that be, and suddenly put into place was a new and glorious policy --- unlimited salad, fruit, and bread. No more squabbling over cucumbers, and the quality of the offerings seemed to go up immediately as well. She posted: "For the first time ever I have seen at lunch cherry tomatoes, radishes, carrot and cucumber shreddings." Victory!
While I don't know that offering kids unlimited bread is necessarily the way to go, it is a great example of how change can be made when there's a strong impetus (like bad press). Way to go Martha, I hope they think about a new policy for hair nets next.
Do you feel like your child's school provides a satisfying and nutritious lunch?
Image via Never Seconds
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Comments 25
So pack your kid's lunch. Simple. And why does a 9-year-old have a blog?
Documentation?
sad school lunches , I pack DD's
my sons have documented milk allergies which were provided to their schools. all school foods include milk in some form except the once in a while fresh fruit. I pack lunches every day for both. Most days, they like last nites leftovers heated up and kept hot in a thermos type container. My older son is going to high school in the fall and my youngest will start kindergarten. If the school offers fresh fruit, I keep $5 in their school accounts so they can get it as a side dish. Otherwise, the schools told me that they couldn't acccomodate "just one student". I can't believe my children are the only milk-allergic ones in the building!