LONDON – A 9-year-old blogger won a food fight with authorities in her Scottish town Friday, after an online outcry prompted officials to lift a ban on posting photos of her school lunches.
Martha Payne’s images of uninspiring school meals — one consisted of two croquettes, a plain cheeseburger, three slices of cucumber and a lollipop – drew international attention. The blog, set up about six weeks ago as a writing project and to raise money for a school-meals charity, has drawn more than 2 million hits.
Martha, who lives in the coastal town of Lochgilphead, about 130 miles west of Edinburgh, gave each meal a “food-o-meter” rating, and offered an assessment of its contents.
“I’d really like to know where the chicken comes from,” she wrote in an entry about chicken fajitas, “so I am going to write to the lady in charge to ask. I know it comes from a hen but I’d like to know where the hen lived.”
Local officials ordered the schoolgirl to stop taking pictures.
An Internet storm was followed by an official U-turn. Council leader Roddy McCuish said he had ordered officials to lift the ban and praised Martha as “an enterprising and imaginative pupil.”
