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Summary: Owing to an international backlash against the ban on posting photographs of school meals on the blog, it has since been lifted. [19 June 2012] - A nine-year-old who was banned from blogging about her school meals has been allowed to reopen her blog. The NeverSeconds blog by Martha Payne, from Argyll, includes photos of the meals served at her school, Lochgilphead Primary School, and gives each one a "food-o-metre" and health rating. Before its ban, the site had gathered over two million views. Visitors from around the world began sending in pictures of their own school dinners from as far afield as the US, Israel and Japan. Upon realising the blog's popularity, Martha channelled the attention positively and asked viewers to contribute towards her target of a £7,000 donation to a school meal project in Malawi through the Mary’s Meals charity. Argyll and Bute Council, however, stopped Martha from posting the photographs because they "misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils", as they "appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available". The council also claimed that the media attention the blog had received "led [the school's] catering staff to fear for their jobs". Martha — whose pen name is "Veg" — explained on her blog that she had banned from bringing her camera into school: This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head teacher and taken to her office. I was told that I could not take any more photos of my school dinners because of a headline in a newspaper today. I only write my blog not newspapers and I am sad I am no longer allowed to take photos. I will miss sharing and rating my school dinners and I’ll miss seeing the dinners you send me too. I don’t think I will be able to finish raising enough money for a kitchen for Mary’s Meals either. News of the ban caused a backlash against the decision from internet users, bringing the blog wider attention and prompting the council to lift the ban. One reporter wrote: In an era when many worry about what children eat (and, more importantly desire on their plate) and fuss over a generation that is accused of being short on attention and poor on grammar, Martha’s blog is an overwhelmingly positive example." She had the media, and most importantly parents and kids, talking about the important issue of school lunches, and her blog even kickstarted her school into introducing an ‘unlimited salads, fruit and bread’ policy. As her posts continued, so the quality of the food improved significantly. Upon lifting the ban, council leader, Roddy McCuish, conceded that the council was wrong for issuing the ban, owing to its "Dark Ages" view of new media. He said: "I would certainly apologise to Martha if it's caused her any angst whatsoever and we're meeting Mr Payne on Thursday, myself and locally elected members, to see if we can find a way forward." The blog has now attracted over six millions of visitors and drawn the attention of celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Nick Nairn. It has also raised more than £70,000 for the school meal projects in Malawi, more than 10-times its original target of £7,000. [Sources: BBC, CNet, The Next Web] Further Information: