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The nine-year-old budding food critic Never Seconds blog via Never Seconds blog

Ban on 9-year-old food critic lifted

Ban was criticised as being “daft” after a surge in support from celebrity backers including Jamie Oliver.

A SCOTTISH COUNCIL  has said it will not stop a nine-year-old schoolgirl from taking photos of the food in her school cafeteria and posting it online.

Martha Payne from Lochgilphead, Argyll, was initially gagged (not literally) by Argyll and Bute Council , which said that cafeteria staff feared losing their jobs after she started  posting the images to her site Never Seconds six weeks ago.

However the council’s leader told the BBC that the ban was being lifted, after a storm of criticism about it being “daft.”

Payne’s website has recieved close to three million hits since going live, and received the support and praise of many in the food and cooking industry.

Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver sent her his ‘Jamie’s Great Britain’ book with the message: ”Great Work. Keep it up!”

The NeverSeconds blog started off as a writing project with her father to raise funds for the Mary’s Meals Charity, which sets up school feeding projects in poor countries. To date, she has raised €3,000 for it. Payne took photos of her lunch and commented on how good it was.

In one post about chicken fajitas, she wrote: ”I’d really like to know where the chicken comes from 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.”

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:11 PM

    What a great story , she deserves support not hindrance , if the dinner ladies are worried about losing their jobs then they should perhaps dust off the cookbook or get a new one from Jamie

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    Mute Greg Bourke
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:56 PM

    Supposedly she gets on very well with the dinner staff (her last review was 10/10), this was the council over-reacting to a silly newspaper article

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    Mute Peter Johnston
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:45 PM

    She’s now raised close to £30000 sterling. Amazing what a bit of PR will do :-)

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    Mute lisa o riordan
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    Jun 15th 2012, 5:24 PM

    Isn’t it £3,000?

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    Mute Damocles
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:47 PM

    I just wish they could have resolved this without involving Jamie Chuffin’ Oliver.

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    Mute Mike Paterson
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:17 PM

    Scottish kids are the just to clever some times :)

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    Mute Red4fred
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:31 PM

    Are you Scottish?

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    Mute High Flyer
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:38 PM

    ‘Too’….. Not ‘To’…..:-)

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    Mute Donal McCarthy
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    Jun 15th 2012, 3:52 PM

    Classic example of famous by banning.

    The Journal should try and get the EU to ban them.

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    Mute Peter Johnston
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    Jun 15th 2012, 6:25 PM

    To lisa o riordan

    Its actually now over £39000 sterling – http://www.justgiving.com/neverseconds

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    Mute Stíofán O Cleary
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    Jun 15th 2012, 7:00 PM

    just read the whole blog killed a few motorway miles and I have to say I’m highly impressed with the standard of school lunches around the world. any one an idea what its like in Ireland these days? it would be interesting to compare. I know college canteens a fecking muck

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