People have been asking about the bands we wear so here is today's,
Our teachers get given the bands during the morning and then we get given them just before lunch. They are comfy and you don't really notice them.
I wanted to avoid the fish and chips today so I chose the tomato pasta with peas but I couldn't resist some pineapple again from the salads. I don't think pineapple goes with the pasta, or maybe the pasta doesn't go with the pineapple if you see what I mean!
Food-o-meter- 5/10
Mouthfuls- 30
Courses- main/dessert
Health Rating- 6/10
Price- £2
Pieces of hair- 0
Wristband- Yellow
I'd like to thank Katie who taught in NanNing, GuangXi province, China (21 seconds, its near the Vietnam border) for this photo,
It is soup and pork with rice and cost 8 Renminbi about £0.80 which I thnk is really good value. We are not allowed fizzy drinks in Scotland but the drink cost 2.5 Renminbi, 25 pence.
Please keep sending your photos to neverseconds@gmail.com I love them!
VEG
Again, no protein. I can hardly believe it.
ReplyDeleteIs anybody actually in charge of school dinners in Argyll?
You're doing a great job, Veg. You WILL make a difference, eventually.
There may not be a slab of meat, but believe it or not protein appears in lots of different foods! Peas are actually a pretty good source of protein, as is the yogurt, and the pasta as a grain will have protein too. If anything it's iron that's lacking, but if she eats meat at home she's probably not lacking iron in her diet either. This actually looks like a pretty decent lunch, especially compared to some of the others!
DeleteIt looks like there is cheese in the pasta dish as well, another source of protein. What concerns me more is the amount of carbohydrates and the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables.
DeletePasta, peas, a small amount of cheese, and a pot of yoghurt.
DeleteAll contain protein and she will get all she needs.
However, lack of essential fatty acids especially omega-3s which are vital for healthy brain function is a real concern here. And is there enough healthy food on this plate to stave off hunger until the next meal or healthy snack time?
The school meal from china looks much more nutritious and tasty (shame about the sugary drink).
Your blog is great, but the topic is ridiculous! Can't believe my eyes when looking at your pictures. Here we don't have school lunches, so don't have any idea what is normal, but this is definitely not enough! Congratulations on your clever idea to make this public by using a blog. Was looking at your blog counter, it is amazing how many views you've got!
ReplyDeleteLoving your blog Veg... At least you have great home grown food on an evening and at weekends! You're doing a fabulous job at raising awareness of these pitiful expensive meals! Lucinda
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible! Love what you are doing! I am a university student and it makes me think more about what I eat and how it affects my studies. I usually try to eat healthy, but this was a great reminder.
ReplyDeleteAnd those school lunches are overpriced!
I am so happy for you and your friends. It is hard to believe for me that a young girl can change so much. I am realy proud of you.
ReplyDeleteIt does not matter if the pineapple goes with the pasta or vice versa. If you want pineapple have it. Pineapple is good. I so enjoy reading your blog. I did not know about it until Yahoo had it as a news feed on their homepage.
ReplyDeleteHello, I just want to tell you that we will have a little story about your blog in Telemundo Utah, the number 1 local news in spanish. Congratulations for making a difference in the world's health.
ReplyDeleteGood Heavens.
ReplyDeletePLEASE tell me that pasta had some meat or at least a lot of cheese in it. What on Earth does your council have against protein? At least there was yoghurt instead of an ice lolly....
Pasta contains lots of protein, so does yoghurt. The problem in my opinion isn't protein as no one in this country suffers from lack of protein.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)
The problem is poor quality food, small portions that will leave kids hungry in a short while which will probably make them eat sugary processed snacks later, and a lack of vitamins and minerals
Hey, we have known your project here in Brazil. Congratulations! Everybody has taken your example and have created blogs and other ways of showing to society the things we don´t agree in our schools. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat is brilliant!
DeleteVeg
Dear Veg,
ReplyDeletewhat a great find your blog is! Your blog was featured in an online news column (Technically Incorrect) I read about technology in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The article stated that your blog had shamed the school into changing its practices. Well done!
I always ate the school lunch, and found it quite mediocre with too many carbohydrates. I like that you can have salads every day, and that you can have seconds. Here's hoping you can have cherry tomatoes regularly.
Your lunch today was a "P" day: Passion fruit & Peach, Peas, Pineapple and Pasta! Maybe tomorrow will be another letter of the alphabet.
I'll be reading your blog regularly. The pictures and your rating system are both well done.
I saw an article on our news about your creative ideas and now like to read your blog. My kids are out of school, but I still
ReplyDeleteEnjoy. Great job!!!
Do the colored bands represent something?
ReplyDeleteI believe it has to do with Veg's menu selection for that day.
DeleteShe mentioned that they used to "run out of food" before, and I suspect they're now asking for menu selections at the beginning of the day so they can be sure to prepare enough of each selection.
Then the children are each given a wrist band to indicate which selection they chose so that, when they arrive to eat lunch, they must stick to their choice and can't change their mind at the last minute.
I hope Veg will correct me if I'm wrong about the reasoning. But I do know that the wrist bands are to indicate the menu selection they made in the morning.
I am so impressed with your blog and your posts! Way to go! As a teacher in an urban school district in the US, I see our children being served pitiful lunches. If my kids send you a photo, would you consider posting it? I know my students would so enjoy some of the lunches you've received. Ours are often quite horrible!
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing such a fantastic job!
Mary Lenahan
Pleasantville, New Jersey, USA
I'd really like seeing what other children eat. Please send a photo and rating. neverseconds@gmail.com
DeleteVeg
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI'm from Brazil! I liked your blog! I'm sure it helps many people that felt the same. You are a clever girl!
Can you visit my blog? I like ''fashion'', this is the link: http://lincymods.blogspot.com.br/
Thank You! Goodbye..
I like your blog. It is very coourful. I think Brazillian cats say Miaow? Am I right?
DeleteVeg
Thank You!
DeleteYes, cats say Miaow in Portuguese! Haha..
I've been listening a lot about the Queen's jubelee on TV. London is celebrating it beautifuly. Goodbye!
Young lady you have become my favorite food blogger.
ReplyDeleteI think people are bit over-obsessed about protein. Those peas there? Are an excellent source of protein. When 'a chicken in every pot every Sunday' was said by Henry IV and Hoover in '28 it was to suggest prosperity- not that people were starving, malnourished or that they needed that chicken daily. There is protein in fruit, salads, bread, etc. Bread is 30% protein. I'd be more concerned about the 8 essential amino acids that is supplied easiest from animal sources, but also from plant/fruit/grain combinations.
ReplyDeleteYou've done great work and created change for your school! A hearty pat on the back! Esp. now as they now allow you unlimited salad, fruit, and bread.
Jannie:
DeleteVeg is nine years old. The nutrition she does - or does not - receive today will influence her health all her life. Particularly important is her calcium intake; as a woman, she is at risk for osteoporosis in later life if her diet is not sufficient. Fortunately, Veg's Dad is very conscious of her nutritional needs and is seeing to it that she eats well at home, but what of the possibility that less fortunate kids in her school are relying upon school lunch as their one really decent meal? That happens all the time. America's school lunch programme attempts to take this into account, so that if a child gets poor nutrition in the home, the school lunch will help offset that.
What seems like a simple choice to an adult is much more important for children. Poor dietary choices in childhood can set people up for osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, and in severe cases, intellectual disability.
They should all get free organic full fat milk at break times and with their lunch.
DeleteThis contains an amazing range of vitamins, calcium, essential fatty acids (not found in non-organic milk) as well as all the protein and carbohydrate they need to keep them thriving.
I love reading your blog:) You're an awesome young lady---and smart to be making healthy choices! I'm a faithful follower:)
ReplyDeleteI read about your blog tonight and had to take a look. I'm really impressed by your writing but most of all your creativity and spunk. I write about politics, have my own blog about interior design and teach student journalists at a small college. I think those students could learn a lot from you!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on what you've accomplished and good luck.
I am very glad for you! You have made a difference in your school lunch program just by expressing your concern.
ReplyDeleteYou will make things so much nicer for everyone!
Greetings from Corvallis, Oregon U.S.A.
Read about your blog in a German magazine. Love it! Reading it I was glad that school in German finishes at lunch time and most kids go home to eat lunch... ;-)
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to the article...
http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/ausland/maedchen-schreibt-blog-ueber-schulessen-in-grossbritannien-schottland-a-834637.html
krissie
Go girl! I read about your blog on an italian website, I'm impressed. Keep up the good work, you have a new follower! :)
ReplyDeleteParabéns pela sua iniciativa. Você conseguiu ajudar todos seus coleguinhas a terem uma alimentação melhor. Vou te contar um segredo, adoro abacaxi com comida salgada, comeria com tranquilidade o abacaxi com a massa. A nota que dou é 10, mas é para você.
ReplyDeleteBrasil.
Brilliant website. I love the style, you are letting people make up their own minds about what is acceptable. I have featured it as part of the education showcase on http://loveallblogs.com/
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of featuring other meals from around the world as a comparison.
Your blog is such a hit! You should have your own domain. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog. I am passionate about all kids being able to have access to real and wholesome food. You do such a great job!
ReplyDelete~A new follower from Fort Mill, South Carolina USA
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'm Lavanya I live in New Zealand , 10years old girl.
I'm one of your new followers and really liked your blog.
I look forward to reading your next blog.
Lavanya
Where is your entry for today??!? I wanna see it:(
ReplyDeleteI am not at school at the weekend but I am back on Monday.
DeleteVeg
http://www.mamamia.com.au/food/neverseconds-school-lunches-judged-by-school-girl/
ReplyDeleteGreat work!! I found your blog from the above link in Australia. We don't have 'school' lunches as such here. We normally send a lunchbox or they can have what we call 'tuckshop' where you order from a list. My daughters school only has it once a week and she really doesn't like it anyway.
keep up the good work. If I think of it I will send you a pic of what I send to school for my daughter.
Thank you!
DeleteVeg
Great work, I found your blog while reading TIME Magazine. You have done an amazing job. You are a great writer already - I cant wait to see what you will do in the future. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteI have seen your blog on the TV news, here in Italy. Well done and keep up the great work !!! Have a nice day. :)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog. Very original and wonderful to see that someone is keeping track of how poor school lunches can be.
ReplyDeletehttp://cragsandveggies.wordpress.com/
have a look at my school Lunches
Deletehttp://todayschooldinner.blogspot.co.uk/
I discovered by chance your blog. I find it very interesting.
ReplyDeleteNice Greetings from Germany
Martha you are an inspiration!! I live in the next door county to you and my children are always starving after school lunches too.
ReplyDeleteI've just blogged about portion size and school food on my own blog http://cookeatfood.blogspot.co.uk/ and have linked back to yours.
You are making waves as far as the US - congratulations! The short time my daughter attended public schools, she never ate a single served lunch. I wondered why for awhile; I had forgotten how bad they really were. She chose a peanut butter sandwich to take. The higher grades did have junk food that they could earn or purchase so they wouldn't starve, but the wise governor finally removed that! So they too go home hungry. They probably run home, gorge themselves with anything they can find causing the obesity we're seeing. Thanks and I'm following. You do good work. :)
ReplyDeleteValora lo poco que tienes, un día no lo tendrás.
ReplyDeleteSaludos
Martha, how can we go about sending you a picture of a school lunch?
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing - keep up the blogging and making changes.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes: How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/anne_frank.html#uTMPt7lrdX5giCyx.99
Hi Veg,
ReplyDeleteAm i correct in thinking that you are off today ?? if so i don't suppose there will be a blog today. Well enjoy your day off.
Here is Today's Menu at my School.
http://todayschooldinner.blogspot.co.uk/
TTFN
Hi Martha, I just learned of your blog - amazing!
ReplyDeleteDo you know of Japanese inventor Dr. Nakamtsu? He won the Nobel prize for photographing every meal that he consumed for 34 years!
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-invention-of-dr-nakamats/4od
Best wishes =)
Jesal
I live in usa!! I really like your idea ill di a blog for my daughters.. Here the school is just not good.. All fat food ans not healty!
ReplyDeleteCongrats
Dear Veg,
ReplyDeleteif pineapple goes with pasta or not, depends on if you like eating them together or not.
Greetings from Germany
I just found your blog and really enjoy it. I wanted to point out that peas and pasta together have all 10 amino acids to be a complete protein. The yogurt has some protein, too. I think this is a pretty decent vegetarian meal. I live outside of Atlanta Georgia how many seconds?) and have a 10-year-old who just finished the fourth grade. She usually takes her lunch to school. She like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (that's fruit spread not gelatin!), a fruit and a vegetable (baby carrots or cucumbers) or sometimes two fruits and a bottle of water. Sometimes she likes a cookie for dessert. Her school lunches aren't too bad but she tends to not eat much veggies or fruits when she gets it.
ReplyDeleteI have to ask: are you FORCED to eat the school's food? Is this normal in your country? Because in Australia it's MOSTLY normal for children to BRING their healthy food from home. In Australia, if a parent expects their children to buy food every day from their school then that's considered to be fairly neglectful. Is that not the same in Scotland? COULD you bring healthier (cheaper) food from home? Unless Scottish parents are just SO much busier than Australian ones?
ReplyDeleteWhat are those bands for - are they like a ticket you have to give when you get your food? (sorry if I'm ignorant - but I'm from Holland and our country doesn't have school lunches at all. Kids pack sandwiches and enjoy a hot meal in the evening...)
ReplyDeleteLove the ratings scale. Shame the pineaple is cooked and probly dunked in syrup. Its just interesting that everything on the plate is processed and cooked even the milk for yogurt is pastuerised . Not many foods really need cooking. No animal was designed for a cooked diet. I miss raw celery from the UK Sweeter than australian celery.
ReplyDeleteHi Martha! Congratulations on reaching so many people! I'm a business owner and mom in the USA (state of Texas, capitol city of Austin).
ReplyDeleteI have an important question about the wristbands (apologies if you've already answered this elsewhere). Do they get cleaned every day? It sounds like you are issued one each day and then you give it back sometime after lunch? If so, imagine the germs that would build up on those and how easily they could spread germs from child to child.
I surely do hope they are washed or sanitized each day, but if not, I know that you certainly have the influence to get it added as a new policy!
Keep up the great work!