Don't censor the school lunch blog.

[Kablooie]

Martha Payne is an adorable 9-year-old schoolgirl who lives in Argyll, Scotland. You do not want to mess with Martha Payne.

This spring, Payne launched a little blog called NeverSeconds to chronicle her school lunches. With her photographs of midday meals in all their often grim glory, her personal ratings for their culinary value, and her penchant for charming turns of phrase like “Whilst I was having my tea my blog went through 1 million hits!” Payne quickly became an international sensation. She also became a fierce agent of change.
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On Thursday, Payne added a new post, ominously titled “Goodbye.” “This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head teacher and taken to her office,” she wrote. “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.” Seems the council took special issue with a recent piece in the Daily Record that ran under the headline “Time to fire the dinner ladies.”
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Something about a soulless institution going after a likable, well-intentioned kid just doesn’t play well, publicity-wise. Jamie Oliver promptly tweeted an encouraging message to “Stay strong Martha,” and the Guardian encouraged readers to tweet pictures of their own lunches in solidarity.

And what do you know? On Friday, the Argyll and Bute Council issued a new statement, directly from its head, Roddy McCuish. “There is no place for censorship in this Council and never will be whilst I am leader.

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She was trying to get donations for Mary's Meals and hoped to reach £7000. Because of the controversy, as of Friday donations had reached £30,000!

Full article here:
http://www.salon.com/2012/06/15/dont_censor_the_school_lunch_blog/

[intaglio]

1. Here is a link to Martha's Blog

Never Seconds

Because of the controversy, as of this time Martha has raided £45,885 (nearly $72,000) for the charity Mary's Meals which provides food at school for children in 3rd World countries.