Jack Sprat could eat no fat …

In the traditional nursery rhyme, the lyrics go like this:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat.

His wife could eat no lean.

And so between them both, you see,

They licked the platter clean

-Mother Goose

Food at Thanksgiving Dinner

When planning your Thanksgiving dinner, thinking about what Jack and his wife could eat can be fun. The story, “Jack Sprat Learns About Food,” helps children learn about the different categories of food that we should include in our meals. To do this, we are going to use resources from myplate.gov.

If you are curious about how we graduated from the “basic four food groups” to a “food pyramid” and finally arrived at “MyPlate,” check out this blog for more information.

1. The Fruit Category – Jack Sprat Could Eat Fruit

The first food Jack and his wife need for their Thanksgiving dinner is fruit.

Foods in this category include any fruit or 100% fruit juice. The fruit can be fresh, frozen, canned, or dried. Most people will not have fruit juice for dinner, but a fruit salad makes a colorful addition to a Thanksgiving meal.

2. The Vegetable Category – Jack Sprat Could Eat Vegetables

The second category that Jack and his wife could eat is vegetables. This category includes any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice. Vegetables can be raw, cooked, canned, frozen, or picked fresh. They can be cut up, mashed, or left whole. However, not all vegetables are the same. You can put them in sub-categories of:

• Green
• Red and orange
• Beans, peas, and lentils
• Starchy
• Other vegetables

For examples in each group and serving amounts for specific age groups go here. And, because we are talking about a Thanksgiving meal, it is ok to go overboard and try to serve a vegetable from each sub-category. Jack Sprat might include a green bean casserole, a sweet potato casserole, broccoli, corn, and Brussels sprouts.

3. The Grains Category

The third category is grains. This category includes wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, and barley. The foods in this category are divided into two subgroups: Whole Grains and Refined Grains. Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel. Refined grains are crushed to create a finer texture and longer shelf life. But refining the grain removes fiber, iron, and some vitamins. A refined grain is white flour, corn grits, white bread, and white rice. However, you can find refined grains enriched with specific vitamins and iron.

Jack could include dinner rolls, bread, or pasta at his Thanksgiving meal so he and his wife would have an adequate serving of food from the grains category.

4. The Dairy Category

The dairy category provides us with calcium. It includes products made from milk. Examples are milk itself, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese. Lactose-free milk and fortified soy milk are good options too. Plant-based milk, like almond or oat milk, is not a part of the dairy category. However, these “milks” can be a good source of calcium. Foods made from milk, but with little calcium and a high fat content, such as cream cheese, sour cream, cream, and butter, would not be good food choices in this category.

Jack’s Thanksgiving dinner might include Mac and cheese and a large glass of milk. I am sure he’d also enjoy a scoop of ice cream on his pumpkin pie.

5. The Protein Category

The protein category might be a little tricky for Jack and his wife. We tend to think of protein as something we get from meat. Back in the day, we referred to this category as “the meat group.”

The Protein Category includes seafood, meat, poultry, eggs, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy products. Even though beans, peas, and lentils are also part of the Vegetable Category. And just like Jack Sprat (who ate no fat), our meat and poultry choices should be lean or low-fat too. But remember Jack’s wife? She would not eat even lean meat. We might, therefore, assume that Jack’s wife was a vegetarian (a person who does not eat meat). In the little book, “Jack Sprat Learns About Food”, Jack helps his wife by presenting her with nuts and beans so that she will have a source of protein. Vegetarian options in the Protein Category include beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy products.

It is a good idea to offer some vegetarian options at your Thanksgiving dinner. Many vegetarian recipes are available online.

Nursery Rhyme: Jack Sprat

If you are searching for easy-to-read text to help your preschoolers, kindergarteners, or first-grade students learn about good nutrition, you will want the creative teaching resource: “Jack Sprat Learns About Food.” Dawn Stephens has masterfully created a resource that contains new lyrics to the Mother Goose rhyme of Jack Sprat. Your students will quickly memorize the text and then be able to track the words in the book. Therefore, this printable guided reading book and PowerPoint eBook Show will also help students learn to read.

This resource is available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

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