A little girl in Argyll started a school dinners blog. She took photos of her school dinner and posted them on her blog and made comments. She has a foodometer and gives them a mark. She had the full support of the school. Some idiot newspaper got hold of the wrong end of the stick and said the dinner ladies should be sacked. The story went viral.

The little girl used her blog to raise money for the Scottish charity Mary's Meals which provides school dinners for children in poor countries. Before to hoo-ha she had raised about two thousand pounds. I think she was aiming at £7000. As a result of the newspaper hoo-ha and a council official's faux-pas (which has been corrected by the coundil leader), I think the total is up to £50,000.

Martha done good

She also revealed how appalling her school's dinners were, totally inadequate for growing children.

Well done to her,this little girl will certainly go places in later life.

School dinners are very small. And no second helpings these days indeed. Not helped by the fact that under FSM regs they have to provide a dessert! In other words you must give them some sugar!
I think it would be much better if they concentrated on one hearty main course for free school meals kids.

Agreed. There'll be enough carbohydrate in a good square meal.

I couldn't believe it when I saw some of those 'meals'. I know we used to complain about our school dinners (lumpy mashed potato with everything, even salad), but at least they were adequate, and you could have extra. The puddings were good, too!

I didn't have school dinners until we returned here in my teens - I'd lived abroad for most of my earlier childhood. I didn't always like the meat courses but oh the puddings and custard. The spotted dicks, steam jam sponges, teacle tarts etc - all load with bright yellow custard. I was in love!!

The meals in the old ILEA were subsidised and excellent. All staff would have them because they were worth buying or doing a duty to get one as payment.

The meals the little girl showcased looked dreadful! I have never seen them quite as bad as that!

Not sure I agree that Free School Meals should go without a dessert... could have something healthy and a treat!

I was thinking that all school meals could go without a pudding, not just the free ones. That would be unfair and would stigmatise the kids who get free meals.

Not all school meals are like the poorer ones in the blog.

They looked better than the ones I remember!

I had school dinners all through school. I remember some delicious puddings and I remember getting seconds and even thirds sometimes. I also remember eating my best friend's potatoes as well as my own most days. I think the food must have been fine because I don't remember much else about it. I just ate it.

They only cost a shilling when I was at school. The ones on the blog are £2.00!

I always went home for lunch. There was a piggery next to our school which got the leftovers. The pigs looked healthy enough!

Scottish sock puppet theatre presents
the song of Neverseconds

It wouldn't let me watch it!

Just as a BTW I believe that this little girl's dinner were NOT free, but paid for by her parents .

nag if you're on Facebook you might be able to listen via that:

www.facebook.com/ScottishFalsettoSocks

Yes, £2 a time! (I don't think anyone said they were free, gracesmum)

Got it Bags! Wonderful...sounded like a Scottish Edna Everage

Our school dinners weren`t too bad, but I used to dread the dessert being stewed apricots, or stewed ants as we called it, because there always more ants in there than apricots!

I wonder if the dinner ladies' union was at the bottom of the row. I have crossed swords with them in my previous incarnation as a local councillor and believe me there was blood on the carpet - but not mine.

My understanding (from bonny Argyll) is that it was over-officious council officers who jumped in with both feet when some rag of a newspaper said that the dinner ladies should be sacked. The fault lies with the rag and the bossy official. The council leader stepped in and instructed the bossy bootses to lift the ban. Whether the dinner ladies' union had anything to do with, who knows. I've certainly experienced enough utterly stupid, ill-thought out officiousness from council officers (over school closures) in the last couple of years. There was a change of political administration last month. This was its first shenanigans test. The council leader did well and we all hope he will carry on in similar vein and slap down the crass officials who seem to forget that they are there to serve the population via the population's elected representatives.

And why was the Council leaping to the defence of dinner ladies? Surely it's not their fault if the food they're given to work with is laughably inadequate? Who's the real culprit here?

I wrote about this little girl and the quality of her school dinners on the POLITICS Forum, 12th May, 'ACADEMIES'.

I am disgusted the council took such a bullying stance over this. It should not take a pupil of any school, let alone a 9 year old, to tell the council or her teachers how bad the school meals were/are. What are they thinking of, it is beyond common sense for any adault to know the plates of food being served were a disgrace. They all share in this sorry saga and to cover their backs they were prepared to silence a child. Martha deserved better and they all, teachers and council should be ashamed.

Well done Martha.

Quite a way to treat a gifted child isn't it. What I don't understand is why the HT and/or chair of governors did not tell the council where to get off. That is the great thing about having an independent governing body. They can turn round to the LA and say no, you're out of line.
This independence of governors is disappearing under academies unfortunately.