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Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes
- slantyyz 14y agoI get the impression that had she been American, the school would have suspended her for her actions.
- jlarocco 14y agoYeah, I wouldn't bet money on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened, either.
- cullen 14y agoBeat me to it. Agreed. There's no way we'd put up with that kind of insolence over here.
- sukuriant 14y agoYou know. I can read the arrogance in your statement, and I think that's exactly how the school would respond, with exactly that tone. I think that was your point. It's terrible that we would respond in such a way, rather than fixing our ways and feeding children a healthy lunch when they get the assisted lunch plan (this is often given to kids that honestly cannot afford other food, and may be their only real meal of the day).
- cullen 14y agoYou nailed it. Of course all usual caveats apply. I won't be surprised to find a few excellent schools out there; but, I expect them to be the exception, not the rule. Education in this country is a national disgrace. Have kids? Get yourself on the local school board.
- AsylumWarden 14y agoThis was food, not prayer. I've heard of complaints about food being met in a positive manner in LA (California) and where I finished high school in South Carolina.
- superuser2 14y agoOf course, the justification wouldn't have been "her actions," but the reasoning would go something like this: 1. She is a student using personal electronics on school property during school hours without permission. This is explicitly disallowed in the handbook she and her parents would have been compelled to sign. This is not about food - she broke the rules. 2. That's great that she wants to be a journalist, but you never know what's going to happen with children in possession of cameras. Sexting! Cyberbullying! Violation of privacy! And with the Internet these days... She is not old enough to appreciate the consequences of what can happen with cameras. Maybe in 11th or 12th grade she can join extracurriculars that introduce students to photography in an age-appropriate, supervised, and controlled environment. As a matter of policy, the school recommends that parents who give their children smartphones use parental controls to disable the camera, restrict internet access to school-approved websites, and always monitor calls and text messages. If a child needs the Internet for research purposes, a parent should always sit next to the child and supervise. 3. All personal electronics are distractions and disrupt the learning environment. These arguments play very well with the mainstream American media. In fact, the media makes these arguments all the time, probably more vigorously than school officials would. This PR problem would have been trivial to crush had administration desired to crush it.
- droithomme 14y agoTotally accurate; nice summary; have seen this myself; was thinking the exact same things while reading the article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Kids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Kids recommended to those who are skeptical. Nothing is your post is overly dramatic or exaggerated in the least.
- malnourish 14y agoAs a person a few years out of high school myself, I was more shocked by your disclaimer for exaggeration than by the post above. Everything said seems normal and logical for the schools I've encountered (and the local/regional/national media) to report, given their dispositions and previous conduct.
- gouranga 14y agoGood. Looking at the utter shit they feed children in the UK under the guise of school dinners, it's nice to see someone documenting it. I send my children in with a proper packed lunch and their friends take the piss out of them because it's NOT processed shit. I don't get humans sometimes.
- potatolicious 14y ago> "I don't get humans sometimes." We pick on people that are different - not people that are better or worse. The quality of the food your children have is not why they're singled out.
- nash 14y agoHow often do you get Humans in your meals? ducks
- gouranga 14y agoVery funny ;)
- forza 14y agoThe blog: http://neverseconds.blogspot.com http://neverseconds.blogspot.com Radio interview: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17908017/VEG%20You%20and%20Yours.mp3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17908017/VEG%20You%20and%20Yours.mp3
- tnash 14y agoIf you watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show to this point, it was quite depressing how little was done about it on the American show. We unfortunately live in a world where we value money over people's health.
- simonbarker87 14y agoI have heard the argument that with a fully private healthcare system there is no financial benefit to lobbying/pushing for a healthier society as the healthcare sector can only make money off people who are ill - therefore it comes down to who can afford to shout the loudest at those in charge. I guess until there is a way to profit off prevention rather than cure there will always be this sort of conflict of interests. This is of course a mute point for this child as Scotland (for now, lets see how the independence referendum goes) is NHS (national health service) based. And I agree, Jamie's Food Revolution has highlighted this issue very well. The poor attitude toward health seems universal however as one of the most poignant scenes in any of his shows is the one of UK parents passing deep fried fish and chips through the school fence at lunch time!
- smcl 14y ago>> Scotland (for now, lets see how the independence referendum goes) is NHS (national health service) based Scotland leans left, there's no way the NHS is going even if independence is granted.
- simonbarker87 14y agoThat's true, forgot that
- vacri 14y ago'moot' point, not 'mute'. A moot point is a point which is debatable and not final.
- simonbarker87 14y ago
- revicon 14y agoThis is why I think the internet is cool.
- lubutu 14y agoAs a vegetarian growing up in England, I remember having non-packed lunch at primary school only once: I was given a hamburger, and told to take the burger out. At the time I just took it in my stride, but on reflection...
- keithpeter 14y agoI became vegetarian when I went to University and had my very own Baby Belling. My school dinners in the UK were cooked in a kitchen in the school by cooks my Mum knew, the veg and meat were bought locally and there was always meat and two veg except Fridays when there was fish. I quite liked them. I have fond memories of those chocolate brick puddings with the minty custard served from metallic effect jugs (60s we are talking). The trouble started in the UK when they outsourced catering so the cook was not a school employee and did not live over the road. You began to get meals served from a central kitchen and produced as cheaply as possible using frozen veg/mechanically recovered meat. Budgets were low. Enter Jamie. Good for this wain. You can get yourself excluded from a UK school for writing things on the Web, but school meals are a 'safe' area of dissent.
- switch007 14y agoI hope the school made changes despite the possibility of Jamie Oliver creating a media storm.
- squozzer 14y agoPlease, sir, may I have no more?
- forgotAgain 14y agoYes, Dickens would seem to describe how the school views the children. "Please, sir, I want some more" is all that they should be saying.
- tomjen3 14y agoSlightly off topic, but Dickens is a fantastic writer, I haven't read anyone as good as him (or even close) at writing engaging stories. Shakespeare is better with languages, but Dickens writes better. And if you want to read him, gutenberg has him (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/730 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/730). Highly recommended.
- sritch 14y agoShe writes remarkably well for a nine year-old, quite witty. I may have smirked a couple times.
- sukuriant 14y agoIndeed. It almost makes me question whether this was a real 9 year old, or a teacher that wrote lower than their level (but not low enough) and that was outraged by the activities ... and then signed it their child's name.
- grecy 14y agoPossibly the family talked about the lunches and the Dad asked her to take photos and tell a story about it.... It's clear he's helping with the tech aspect (i.e. number of hits), so he could be helping with editing/spelling/content too. I don't see a problem with that.
- forza 14y agoAccording to the radio interview[1] it started out as a writing exercise. [1] http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17908017/VEG%20You%20and%20Yours.mp3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17908017/VEG%20You%20and%20Yours.mp3
- jentulman 14y agoI get the impression from reading it that it's her content but her dad is doing the editorial for her which, given it's a 9yo with a blog, I'd call pretty sensible parenting.
- sukuriant 14y agoThat's a reasonable and less conspiracy-esque theory. It seems more plausible than my idea -- though it wouldn't surprise me if a teacher actually did do that.
- RommeDeSerieux 14y agoCan't help but wonder how the school will retaliate.
- sparknlaunch12 14y agoWow. Fantastic result for a young blogger. However I don't think the new meal looks that much better, apart from the sprinkle of salad. Before: Pizza, Corn, Potato Chip, Cupcake After: Pasta, Potato, Cake, Salad
- switch007 14y agoExactly. The bar should be set a LOT higher.
- lambada 14y agoI agree, but credit where credit is due: for immediate short-term changes that won't break the tight budget it's not a bad start.
- babblefrog 14y agoThey appear to be carbo-loading. If I ate that lunch, I'd be asleep an hour later.
- debacle 14y agoSchool lunches were never great, but they've gone down hill stupendously since I was younger. Making my son's lunch for him every morning might be the single greatest favor I do for him on a day to day basis.
- camiller 14y agoFor what it is worth, about half way through this school year my daughters school (and presumably all US schools) had to start following new healthy eating guidelines imposed by the government. http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/legislation/nutritionstandards.htm http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/legislation/nutrition...
- SagelyGuru 14y agoIt would almost be funny if it wasn't sickening, how things only get done when publicity and TV celebrities get involved. How come fruits and salads are suddenly possible now when they were not before?
- josefonseca 14y agoAnd this is in Scotland. Can you imagine what it is like in the poorest countries in the world? This is why we need a permanent, open Internet on all nations, because as soon as the truth comes out, someone does something about it.
- j-b 14y agoIn the US we have corporate industrial processed food lobbyists influencing what ends up in the school cafeteria's. We're used to having quick, processed junk food and most people probably wouldn't want it any other way out of ignorance of what 'real' food costs and can taste like. 'Poorer' countries eat much less processed foods and more of the local 'real' foods.
- pgrote 14y agoNo, not really. Each day we see atrocities from poorer countries, richer countries. The light of truth shines on it and very rarely is anything done about it on a scale like this. In this case I think the celebrity involvement helped, but really it was the father engaging the local government.
- fierarul 14y agoThat food looked pretty bad so pretty sure it's actually better in some of the "poorer" countries. There was some old post about school lunches over the world. Google finds me this: http://todayilearned.co.uk/2011/04/20/what-kids-of-the-world-eat-at-school/ http://todayilearned.co.uk/2011/04/20/what-kids-of-the-world...
- stevenbedrick 14y agoA few weeks back, All Things Considered had a really interesting piece on a school lunch program in Bangalore: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/06/149867092/indian-engineers-build-a-stronger-society-with-school-lunch-program http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/06/149867092/indian... Obviously, that's just one program, and in just one city in just one country, but I thought it was pretty neat.
- gavinlynch 14y agoI just want to point out a MUCH more serious attrocity being committed here: This poor, sweet child is so under-educated in the UK that she doesn't even understand the difference between "dinner" and "lunch".. We must rectify this injustice! Will someone think of the children!!! ;)
- bub 14y agoDinner can mean lunch in Britain. Also, tea can be biscuits and cake in the afternoon, or the main meal in the evening, which can also be called supper. Google 'define dinner'; din·ner/ˈdinər/ Noun: The main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening.
- cdcarter 14y agoI believe the winking face at the end was to imply some form of sarcasm or joke.
- gavinlynch 14y agoCorrect :)
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- mahmud 14y agoI can understand her confussion, it gets dark by 11AM in the U.K. By noon, one tries to stay indoors, safe from rain and soccer-hooligans.
- kevinalexbrown 14y agoAwesome and hilarious - I would be a very proud father or older brother. But on a serious note, directed at the media woohoo that always ensues, demanding better food for schools Jamie Oliver style misses the constraint of a limited budget. Presumably there's some price/utility tradeoff between the cost of the food and the health/taste. Then there's a tradeoff between teacher quality and wages, school size and the number of teachers you must hire, etc. What we should be asking is whether the nutritional value outweighs wherever else the money would be spent. Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but 'oh the school is shamed' is a little much. Edit: of course the other discussion to have is whether there is a tradeoff between cost and health (including additional cooks needed to produce healthier food on a large scale). But I don't see this in most media discussions either.
- leot 14y agoBlarney. Healthy food is not pricier unless you get fancy. Legumes, quinoa, and vegetables aren't more expensive (though they do have smaller margins!) than the crap that they had been serving previously.
- hack_edu 14y agoThe cost of the materials is only a small part of it. Preparing and cooking fresh food requires much, much more effort than prepared packaged foods. Microwavable or similarly low/zero-prep food products require very little labor, require only a few steps before they are served, and create almost zero items to be washed and cleaned. You would be surprised how much cheaper a flat of microwave burritos is compared to an equally caloric-dense flat of fresh or bulk goods. Also to consider is the cost of a skilled laborer -- someone who can actually cook -- versus a minimum wage worker who only needs to unwrap a package, press a button, and plate it.
- tjpick 14y ago> Preparing and cooking fresh food requires much, much more effort than prepared packaged foods. Microwavable or similarly low/zero-prep food products. Microwaving corn on the cob is pretty much as low effort as it gets.
- cgs1019 14y agoI wonder if the blog is registered under her parent(s)'s account. I would expect a 9-year-old user is outside the Blogger ToS.
- kragen 14y agoYes, due to COPPA, the blog will be suspended if Google finds out that it belongs to a 9-year-old.
- jbenz 14y agoFrom her blog (http://neverseconds.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/i-had-really-cool-morning-at-school.html http://neverseconds.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/i-had-really-coo...): >Today I have been sent lots of photos from America. This one was sent in by Kimberley who works in the Glenview school district, near Chicago, Illinois. Dad timed me to find Chicago on the globe and it took me 48 seconds but it was not fair as I was looking for it spelt SHicargo. I hope I'm that kind of dad someday. Cheers to her father for the encouragement and for meeting with the school council. And of course cheers to Martha.
- fierarul 14y agoIt's sad that such a thing needs international attention and Jamie Oliver to add some normal food and vegetables to a kid's lunch. If anything it shows the patchwork attitude and the total lack of pride, or care for quality, of the people involved. This is something that seems systemic to the (western?) world though...
- pragmatic 14y agoWhat is all the uproar about? I looked through the pictures..didn't see any rice with maggots or anything terrible... Did I miss a post? Is this something to do with the portions or taste or time to eat? (I'm quite serious, not trying to troll).
- DanBC 14y agoLack of fruit and veg; unbalanced choice with plenty of carbs but weird protein etc. Whether that's because she choose odd things (and she is only 9, so maybe they should be helping her chose better) or because that's the only selection is open.
- swalsh 14y agoI'm remembering my schools lunches, and frankly that looks miles better than that served in my public school in Wisconsin.
- petercooper 14y agoIt's crazy. I attended several British state schools in the 80s (none of which seemed to be brimming with cash) and we always had a full meal on proper plates - a meal that would look little different to what I have at home now. Seeing random stuff thrown at a plastic tray is really depressing.
- watmough 14y agoGood grief, my Scottish school (Banchory Academy) had huge portions of fairly stolid, if unspectacular food. Always plenty of veg and a meat, and a dessert. Portions have downsized to airline proportions...
- ANH 14y agoThis is great. I'll never forget the day I bit into a shard of metal in my pizza in high school.
- jtchang 14y agoThis right here is modern media effecting change. A few decades ago this would have never happened. I am hopeful that more kids will learn to blog and write about things that are so often opaque to society.
- adviceonly 14y agoAwesome blog and story. I'm just wondering why there was no haggis or blood pudding in the pics I saw. That is what I'd be protesting. It is bloddy Scotland after all!
- neilparikh 14y agoDoes all of the USA and UK have school provided lunches? Here, where I am (Canada), schools don't provide a lunch to the students, and the cafeteria food that can be purchased is quite unhealthy (pizza, fries etc.). I'm in high school right now, which might be why it's different, but I don't remember being provided a lunch from the school in elementary school either.
- kamaal 14y agoI am really happy and surprised at the same time, to know that children in first world countries get facilities like eating such awesome food provided for free in school. In my country(India), its a extremely far fetched thing to even assume that somebody can provide such good quality food for free in school. When I was in School around 12 years back, We would carry a lunch Tiffin packed at home, sometimes I would go completely hungry if my mom was in a hurry so some slip happened while making the Tiffin. And yes, cakes, pastry, vegetables are all big things. My lunch used to be far more modest. I hope someday in my country we would capable of providing this kind of facilities to kids.
- rkwz 14y ago>In my country(India), its a extremely far fetched thing to even assume that somebody can provide such good quality food for free in school. Hostel food?
- adimitrov 14y agoIt's not exactly free. It's 2£ (GBP) per meal, so about 176₹ (INR.) The situation in India is certainly much worse than that in Great Britain, though. I really hope the country will be able to stem the tide of poverty, overpopulation, and corruption.
- swah 14y agoIsn't this a little too smart for a 9-year old?
- instakill 14y agoThere ain't no such thing as a free lunch in South African schools.