A Little Transparency can go a Long Way

Wired recently posted about this 9-year-old girl blogging about her school lunches. The government shut her down temporarily before the public voice drowned them out and put her back on air. This story demonstrates the power of a small and simple action, the impact of social media, plus a hint of technology's affect on transparency.

Anyone with a camera can start a blog about anything. This girl started to photograph her lunches and post them on NeverSeconds. She also created a rating system which includes number of hairs. A very important measure of the quality of a lunch. She shared a little part of her life every day, but it also ended up sharing a little bit of the catering company and the quality of the food system in her school. It made transparent a part of her schooling experience.

The initial reaction I had of the silencing of this blog by the Argyll and Bute Council was of a kid afraid his worst secret was being revealed so he shoves the little girl in a room and locks it. Obviously that wasn't a good strategy. If anything, once the voices of the community rose up and the ban was lifted, the actions only gave the blog more attention making the whole thing even louder. Now with even more eyes on the blog, and more pictures to come, there is even more pressure for the company to provide better quality.


It is the simplest action. Sharing a piece of your day. Yet the impact can be so wide spread. This kind of story always amazes me. Why not push it even further? Have a site where everyone contributes their daily meals and their rankings, then arrange them on a map. Then people will know where the best food comes from, and everyone might want to up their game. Who wants bad quality food, right?