Quirky News
Girl's school dinner blog ban lifted
A controversial ban preventing a nine-year-old girl from photographing her school dinners for her blog has been lifted.
Martha Payne, from Argyll, got more than two million hits on her NeverSeconds blog in just a few weeks.
She was praised by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver for contributing to the debate over the quality of school meals.
But then Argyll and Bute Council banned her from taking any more pictures, saying press coverage of the blog had led catering staff to fear for their jobs.
However, council leader Roddy McCuish has now told the BBC that he has instructed senior officials to lift the ban immediately.
He said: "It is a good thing to do, to change your mind, and I have certainly done that."
Martha began publishing photographs of her lunches at Lochgilphead Primary School on 30 April.
She gave each meal a 'food-o-meter' and health rating, and counted the number of mouthfuls it took her to eat it.
But Martha this week revealed that her headteacher had told her not to take any more photographs for the blog.
Under the headline "Goodbye", the post stated: "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."
The council's decision to impose the ban came after the Daily Record published a photograph of Martha under the headline "Time to fire the dinner ladies."
what do you think?
Rob Hicks
so what has happened to freedom of speach
Bob Attoe
that went years ago
Philip Alderson
The local council doesn't have the authority to ban her from doing this. She should continue and if they complain tell them to go boil their heads.
Dorrien Phillips
Don't give them any ideas, that could be Monday's lunch
Adrian Wagstaff
The council must be sued by her. We all want to see what she has for her school dinners. I don't care if this is a democracy or not. I want to see what she has for her school dinners and you all do. We don't care much what her council think. She can post her school dinner photographs anywhere she likes. Who are they to say she can't photograph her school dinners and put them on the internet? What are their dinners now? Copyright material on school dinners, is it? I don't think so. Everyone posts food photographs online. If her school meals are not good enough, we want to know. Photograph them, girl. Post the images, anywhere you like. Who are they to tell you not to? Doesn't mummy and daddy pay enough tax for your school dinners to be of a high enough standard?
Matthew Stoner
I'm actually amazed to read that a pupil eats school dinners........Most of the kids from our local Secondary School are in Tesco of a lunchtime buying packs of doughnuts and other sugar laden junk.....then dumping the packaging on the streets.....
Nicola Anderson
if it costs tons of your dinner money for hardly any food, you'ld do the same. i know i did when they got rid of all the afordable food because it was 'unhealthy'
Bazil Figura
Well done Martha an absolutely brilliant idea, Matthew Fort watch out,
Peter Beilby-King
11:01am on 15/6/2012
So what was the headline then???
Andrew Sumner
7:53pm on 16/6/2012
Erm, last line of the story chap.. "Time to fire the dinner ladies"