Monday 25 June 2012

School Picnic!

My whole school had a picnic on our astroturf pitch today because lots of schools visited to take part in World Sports Day and inter school relays. We were told there were about 450 of us taking part and my relay team came 2nd and beat some P6 and P7 teams! I had to bring a pack lunch which Mum made but I stuck the Chrysanthemum flower on top and I ate it as well.



The lettuce in my cheese sandwich and the peas with the peppers are from my polytunnel and I sowed the seeds for them about 2 months ago. The shortbread was made by my grandpa and is a Scottish speciality but my brother thinks it is from Libya. I forgot to shake my yoghurt drink so I held the lid back on and did it gently so it didn't come flying out at me. I think I was the only person that had a flower to eat.

Food-o-meter- 10/10
Mouthfuls- about 40
Courses- packed lunch
Health Rating- 8/10
Price- not worked it out
Pieces of hair- 0
Wristband- No band today

Because I had a packed lunch I have chosen another packed lunch from Oscar, aged 10, Blenheim, New Zealand (3 seconds!).

'Hi VEG,

Here in New Zealand, we make our lunches at home and so it is always free. We take it to school in a lunch box everyday. Sometimes I make it myself or sometimes Mum and Dad make it for me. To me, this lunch is pretty normal, except for the meat (lamb chop, to be precise) sandwich and salad.



In this lunch I have an apple, salad with cucumber, carrot, lettuce and coriander, a rice cake with meat, kiwifruit, popcorn, raisins, dried apricots and energy balls (or so we call them) which have apricots, oats, nuts and seeds mixed in and coconut on the outside. At my old school, we had a nude food policy where we weren't allowed anything with wrappers. Here's my status:

Food-o-meter:8/10
Mouthfuls:Don't know
Health Rating:10/10
Price:FREE
Pieces of hair: NONE!
Type of Meal: Main'

Oscar's parents add,
' This might be free to Oscar but we are guessing that the total of the ingredients in this lunch might come to about $3NZ. P.S Oscar usually eats his lunch in two mouthfuls so he can quickly get outside to play football ;)

The nude food idea is so cool! I think that would be a real challenge for a class or school to try.

I am still smiling about our Mary's Meals total which is now over £108,000! Dad says please keep sending your pics in and if your class would like to guest blog get in touch! neverseconds@gmail.com


VEG



29 comments:

  1. Hello,


    I´m out germany and I don´t understand English very good. But Your page is very cool. Your picnicfood look very nice.

    LG Alexaa

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  2. That is a tasty, nutritious lunch.
    Your mum should be in charge of school meals in Bute and Argyll.

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  3. Now I am craving real homemade shortbread. Thanks, grandpa, thanks a BUNCH :)

    Oscar's lunch box is cool! I want one. I am not fond of my food touching.

    I really hope that you get a great response to the guest blogs. It is so fun hearing how other's eat and view lunch time!

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  4. Dear Veg/Martha:

    The news about the 100,000 pound mark is wonderful! When I last checked in on Wednesday it was almost 90,000, so I am not surprised - just very pleased for the kindness of people.

    I will be happy to have oatmeal for my supper on the day you have the Oatmeal Party, though I will probably have it with butter and black pepper rather than anything sweet.

    Keep writing, it is so much fun to see what is happening on the NeverSeconds Food Front!

    Best regards,
    Astarid
    Santa Barbara, California

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    Replies
    1. Astrid

      I have already donated but happy to eat porridge for lunch for a week and donate my £3 a day that I spend on lunch if others will join in.

      Pete

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    2. Great idea! Am hoping to try some of the porridge served in Malawi for party.

      Veg's Dad

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  5. Hello Martha Payne! I found your story very interesting, that their attitude may be an example for many others, you can reach new steps and continue this same geito innocent! Congratulations, I'm your fan, journalist! :)

    PS: Sorry for the English, is that I am Brazilian and I'm not good in english:)

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    Replies
    1. Misael (and others), please don't apologize for making the attempt to speak a language that's not native to you. As a native English speaker, I'd much rather read even a failed attempt to speak the language properly than someone who does speak it but chooses to Twitter-type abbreviations instead of words. U no wt i mean? :)

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  6. Looks very tasty and I love the edible flower - superb. Have you tried Nasturtium flowers? I think they are delicious with a salad!

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  7. Both pack-ups look lovely! The variety in Oscar's is very impressive and I bet your grandpa's shortbread is better than anybody else's :o) I'm with Jerry on the nasturtium flower recommendation, they have a slightly peppery taste and look fabulous against green salad leaves. I hope you get a good harvest from your polytunnel plants!

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  8. The rice cakes look like coffee mug coasters, and I'd tell Oscar not to bother with popcorn!!

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  9. Today's blog entry leaves two questions in my mind:

    1) How in the world did Veg's brother come up with the idea that shortbread is Libyan? :)

    2) I wonder why Veg only rated her lunch today an 8 out of 10 on the health scale. Lots of good protein (the cheese in the sandwich and the yoghurt drink), lots of good FRESH veggies (lettuce on the sandwich and the peppers and peas), and that looks like whole grain bread for the sandwich. And a lovely chrysanthemum blossom as well! True, the shortbread probably didn't add a lot of nutrition to the lunch, but -- given the rest of her lunch -- I'm not sure that really matters. I'd be curious to know what Veg thought her lunch lacked that would have given it the other 2 points.

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  10. That looks like a really tasty lunch, Veg!

    And it is brilliant that so much of it is fresh and homemade.
    Nick

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  11. And where is you piece of fruit?? Oscar has two!!

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  12. Homemade shortbread and your own home-grown peas and peppers: these are the best meals! I absolutely love that you put the flower on top, and ate it! We don't get many edible flowers here in Brasil.
    Anyway, congratulations on your 2dn place win!

    Flavia

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  13. Your Mum and grandpa and you have joined forces to create the tastiest, most nutritious lunch I've seen here so far! I knew that any food you brought from home would be top-notch, this proves it.

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  14. HI Veg!! Cheers from Brazil (south america) Love you and yor Blog !!
    XXOOXX

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  15. Hi. Im webmaster from Poland. Ive read story about Your blog, and that teachers wanted You to abandon it. Im very happy that You made it working again. Im not really interested in school lunches, but as professional webmaster i see that You are doing really, really good work with this blog!! Please keep it doing and dont allow them to shut You down !! I hate censorships, i love freedom of speech. And remember - Your school cannot do You nothing if You write this blog in Your private time after school.

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  16. Aw, I miss the days of school trips and packed lunches. Almost tempted to get my mum to make me a sandwich just to remind me of the feeling. Looks like your mum is super healthy and loves you very much :-)

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  17. Loving the flower by the way, I've never eaten one but might try it sometime

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  18. Absolutely wonderful, young Veg. You are a star, although I read in the Telegraph that you might prefer not to be!

    Congratulations on meeting your 100k target - you have done more good in your nine years than most people manage in a lifetime.

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  19. I was not aware you could eat a Chrysanthemum. It looks lovely!

    ~L~

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  20. I love the look of your lunch Veg! Especially the flower! And I really like the lunch box that Oscar in New Zealand has. It's brilliant! :)

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  21. Hello Martha,

    I'm so glad you decided to continue blogging! I'm a 36 years old groceries clerk from Germany, and I showed your blog a little while ago to my 11 years old niece, Carolin. She is having English as her second language at school, and has some trouble with it which is why I'm tutoring her once a week now. She was very excited about your blog, and very curious about your school foods as well as those from around the world and requested I'd forward the link to her e-mail. Here's hoping it will do something to help her English grades! ;D

    She might try to sneak a pic of her school food (she's often complaining about it) but she's not really allowed to take pictures at all at her school.

    Lovelove,
    continue your good work (but only as long as it doesn't feel like a chore to you!!),
    Sandra, from Wiesbaden, Germany (how long for you to look that up?)

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  22. Hello :) You´re blog is really cool and Oscar´s food look very delicious :)

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  23. Hi VEG. I am delighted to see that your blog is still publishing - and with your wonderful pictures. (And I hope that your school's administrators have learned an important lesson: Don't mess with a student on a mission of health! Congratulations.) When compared with she chool lunches that I ate as a child, oh so many years ago, yours have about the same appeal, but are much more healthy. (At least in America, there was an interim where the lunches were neither.) I also think that your lunches look better and are a bit more balanced than some of the meals posted by your foreign friends. It is wonderful that you are paying such close attention to your nutrition and that you have such wonderful support from your Dad (and Mum too, I'd guess). You have already changed the Food Police rules at your school and many other schools are taking notice of your work. But... let us not forget that providing excellent quality meals is not free. At some point, Mum and Dad, or their taxes still have to pay for these meals. I've sorry to hear about your arm injury and the (cannot remember your term for it, but..) the cast. It will be gone before you know it. And lastly young lady, CONGRATULATIONS for raising over 108,000 pounds for the Mary's Meals project. If I can find the proper button, I'll send my own modest contribution. Hundreds of thousands of readers are VERY proud of you.
    -Cedarglen

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  24. The bread on your sandwhich looks so yum! Japan doesn't do good bread in general. It is all fluffy white and comes in loaves of 5 or 6. I crave whole grain bread and am thinking of investing in a bread maker - or perhaps just learning how to bake bread myself. Congratulations on your relay results. Thats great!!

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  25. Dear Martha!
    Thank you for your lovely blog! It is always great to read it! ♥
    Is there any chance of getting the shortbread recipe from your grandpa? I would love to bake it with my daughter Greta. She is only 3 y.o. but loves to cook and bake with me. We are trying to eat as healthy as possible.
    Many greetings from Germany, Göttingen, Lower Saxony from Kati (32y.o.)

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  26. Picnics give students a temporary relief from their studies. After enjoying a picnic, they feel fresh and take up their studies with renewed vigor. Every school and college arranges picnics for its students.
    Regards
    Agrodut Mandal
    Assignment Writing Service UK

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