I haven't done this for a long time -- given a shout-out to a new blogger. I got the link to this blog from The Laughing Housewife. This is Martha, a.k.a. Veg, blogging about her school lunches on her blog, NeverSeconds. Veg lives in Scotland and got permission from her father and her school to take pictures of and blog about her school lunches.
I am shocked at how small the portions are for this fifth grader. She only started blogging in April and has only done a handful of posts so far, but I think she'll continue. She has had over 325,000 visits to her blog since she started and has been interviewed on the radio. Lovefood.com has also featured her, and apparently newspapers and news web sites all over the world have heard of her blog and written about it. One of her goals was to hear from Jamie Oliver, and she did. He tweeted her Dad, calling the blog "shocking but inspirational." She commented on one of her posts that at least now her dad understands why she's so hungry when she gets home.
Check out her blog and be sure to leave her a comment. I have been reading through the other comments on her posts, five or six at a time, just skimming down and grabbing one here or there, and some of the comments are as interesting as her blog. She has gotten comments from many different countries, and a lot of the commenters share their own school lunch stories, or those of their children.
Please check out her blog and then read the article on LoveFood.com.
Thanks!
5 comments:
The only thing is...I see so many obese children... I eat smaller portions(& I'll bet, less calories) than those meals.
~Mary
I should eat smaller portions and less calories! lol
But I can't see an 11 year old who needs fuel for the rest of the school day getting enough nutrition out of those portions. I agree that child obesity is a very big problem, especially in the U.S. I'm not sure it's as big a problem in Scotland, though. But the calories can be right for the age of the child and still be filling portions and tasty food. Some of the comments on her blog are from parents and other schoolchildren in Scotland, and some of them say their meals look the same, while others are at schools that serve much nicer meals in larger portions. The way some of them are described, they sound like they are probably not overly fattening dishes, just that there is more to them. So I guess it differs between schools and areas. One thing that Jamie Oliver did was bring attention to the inadequateness of the school lunches in England, and laws were actually enacted, because of his investigations, that improved what the children are given to eat there. But those laws didn't pertain to Scotland. Of course, the children can bring their own lunches from home, and I'm sure many do. But some don't have that luxury. One of the commenters spoke of her kindergarten-aged daughter having only 10 minutes to eat because at her school there are so many shifts of kids having to take turns eating in a very small area. Her daughter takes her lunch from home but didn't have time to eat it all, and, being only 5, thought that when the lunchroom ladies told them to "Hurry Up! Eat your lunch!" they meant that she *had* to eat all of it, and this was really upsetting her because she always had some left over. So her mother started packing smaller portions so she could eat all of it in 10 minutes.
Growing children need nourishment in the middle of the day. I think this young lady is wise to expose this. I'm glad it garnered National attention where she lives. I have been taking pictures of my food for over a year. I am obese. I do NOT snack and usually only have ONE meal a day. I eat fresh fruits, vegtables and fish. My portions are NOT extreme. I contend that our society has gotten fat from all the HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP being used in all our foods. (medication I was on also added to my weight gain) I think there is a an unnecessary urgency from some, to rush to judgement and try to fix our children, when the real issue lies elsewhere. I hope this ONE little girl makes a difference.
Heading over to check it out!
She's doing a brilliant job, isn't she? Today she writes that she's huge in Taiwan!
Thanks for the mention :)
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