The Full Food Picture

If the worldwide events of the last 18 months in particular have taught us anything, it is that social media should no longer be under-estimated as a medium of leverage and influence. From the Egyptian revolution, to the London riots, to the continuing Greek debt crisis, the internet sphere of communication is sure to pioneer social revolutions from here on out.

This idea is evidenced as one youngster’s blog is banned in Scotland, with the effect that the already popular NeverSeconds site has become an overnight sensation and many have rallied behind the posts.

The premise behind the blog is a primary school child taking pictures of her school dinners each lunchtime, uploading them to her blog alongside health ratings, mouthfuls, pricing and other details about the meal.

In the past month, the blog has managed to secure support and interest around the world, young Martha – known online as ‘Veg’ – has been inundated with images of school meals from across the world, with those who forward photos applying the blog’s standards of information about each meal.

Such an easy concept, the blog has not only risen to prominence on the internet, but has caught the attention of important chefs, such as Jamie Oliver.

Yet, the Argyll and Bute council banned the youngster from uploaded pictures of the school food to her blog following a local newspaper article on the site with the headline “Time to fire the dinner ladies”. The council issued a statement in which it explained that since coverage of the blog had raised issues and concern for the jobs of catering staff at the school, a decision had been made to stop photos being taken. In addition it suggested that “The photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils”.

Controversially banning the blog has sparked an internet wide rally to arms to lift the ban on Martha’s blog, which not only worked, but has generated many tens of thousands of pounds for Martha’s chosen charity, Mary’s meals. The amount raised at the time of writing is in excess of £30,000, up from just £2,000 (a mean feat for a primary school child) on Thursday.

Banning the blog appears to have been a rash and ill-considered decision by council officials. Whilst their claim that the subjective opinions of Martha have caused concern and worry to the staff need be considered, the child and her father had previously sought permission to start up the blog, which the school granted. Withdrawing that right only seems to spark concern over the quality of food on offer all the more, as if the catering companies and canteen staff have something to hide (Martha never found any hair in her food at least!).

Over the course of the blog, the quality of the food that Martha has photographed appears to gradually be improving, which suggests that the school were considering the impacts of the site and changing their services for the better – a move to be commended if anything.

Moreover, it appears to me that the council have failed to capitalise on a unique opportunity of cultural exchange. The blog, receiving international hits and interest from youth to adults alike, could have promised to be the hub of a revolutionary scheme for school meal exchanges. With interesting dishes from Taiwan to Finland uploaded, schools nationwide could have used the blog as a sharing centre to encourage children to try and sample foods from across the globe, teaching about different cultures, healthy food choices and why diets differ to accommodate lifestyles worldwide. In addition, Martha’s blog could have been used as a social tool, allowing users and researchers the opportunity to investigate foodstuffs available to different parts of the world.

A Mary's Meals spokesman said: "We are overwhelmed by the huge response to her efforts today which has led to so many more people donating to her online donation page.

"Thanks to this fantastic support, Martha has now raised enough money to build a kitchen in Malawi for children receiving Mary's Meals as part of our Sponsor A School initiative and has broken the record for hitting a Sponsor A School online fundraising target in the quickest amount of time".

Freedom of opinion and speech needs to be extended to the internet, and it strikes me that this was a grave infringement on the very purpose of the expressionist mode of the blog. Fortunately, in this case, the block backfired and promoted further visits to the site in question; but should the internet become a zone of censorship, there could be grave implications for freedom of expression.

In this case, the collective communities of blogs, Twitter, Facebook and social medias used the arsenal at their disposal to repeal the ban and this is testament to the way in which these domains are becoming more integrated into society not only as a record of our lives, but a historical record of our times, our generation and the momentous occasions to which we bear witness.