The Food Pyramid

Like the song says, "The Food Pyramid is a graphic chart of food groups. And yes, it really is shaped like a pyramid!" This chart was released in 1992 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). It was meant to be a visual guide to healthy dietary guidelines. The basic idea is that the shape of the pyramid gives us clues about what types of food we should eat more or less of each day in order to eat a healthy, balanced diet. However, The Food Pyramid (or "The Food Guide Pyramid" as it is officially known), is just the beginning of the guidelines. There is also an accompanying booklet published by the USDA/DHHS that is free and available to anyone who wants it (visit http://www.usda.gov/). The booklet goes into greater detail about the recommendations of The Food Pyramid. For example, it discusses serving sizes and calories. It discusses the range of quantities of each food group in more detail. It also discusses fat, sugar, cholesterol, salt, and so on. It even includes a chart to help you rate your own dietary choices.

If properly used, The Food Pyramid is indeed a good source of information for general dietary guidelines for most people. However, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding The Food Pyramid and nutrition in general. Many, many books and dietary programs are insisting that they have new and valuable information for healthier eating. Due to the increasing percentage of Americans who are overweight, there is also no shortage of diet plans popping up everywhere promising to help people lose weight and keep it off. There are even some other "pyramids" that indicate completely different approaches to dietary recommendations. This can be very confusing to everyone, particularly children. This is why knowledge and education regarding food is so important.

Of course, the best way to know if you are eating right for your own body is by the way you feel. Healthy, pain-free, clear-minded, rested, and energetic are goals we all have for our own well-being. Eating wisely is an integral part of this goal. Regular medical check-ups to make sure all is well is another important aspect. (People with special nutritional needs may need to adjust the recommendations of The Food Pyramid according to their doctor.)

Note: Information about nutritional choices and The Food Pyramid will be included in the narrative script for the revue Feelin' Good! This script will be published in the next issue of Music K-8 (Volume 15, Number 3).

Healthy eating across the curriculum

Apparently, with the rising rates of health problems associated with poor eating choices, even music teachers are being asked to help educate children in this important area. Despite the controversies surrounding The Food Pyramid, we feel that its message is still critical to getting students thinking and talking about healthy eating. That's why we are offering the song "The Food Pyramid" as part of the revue.

This topic is a natural for crossing the curriculum. Get your students involved in a nutrition project. In fact, get the whole school involved! Have them do research into The Food Pyramid. The library and/or the Internet are great places to start. Have them read what it is, the pamphlet that the USDA published to accompany it, its history, and its current problems. What are some of the many controversies surrounding The Food Pyramid lately? The USDA is mandated under federal guidelines to reassess their recommendations every five years. There are rumors that The Food Pyramid may be changed, redesigned, or updated in 2005. If your students were in charge of this, what changes would they make? Why?

The song

It seemed like a good idea to add humor to this serious subject by writing the song in an "Ancient Egyptian Rock" style. A solo oboe plays a very familiar modal theme (attributed to Herbert C. Clarke, cornetist with the John Philip Sousa band) which is then imitated in a nasal, oboe-like tone by the students. Our singers on the Performance/Accompaniment CD are good models to follow. To make it a little more fun, select a small group to do the soli "answers" which are indicated in parentheses during the chorus each time. We picked three young ladies who delighted in being especially sassy. These soli moments are optional and are duplicated in the orchestration.

The important parts of the song are the spoken solos. We highly recommend you select very good readers/speakers. We have built in a little bit of extra time before the singing begins again on each repeat, just in case readers go a little long. You can hear on the recording how it should flow together. (Of course it's not a crisis if some reader is still reading when the singing begins again. Just keep moving forward.) We divided each segment into two readers for a total of eight in all. You can divide it however you like for fewer or more readers.

During the reading, it would be helpful to have a large graphic image of The Food Pyramid that could be referred to. Select someone other than the readers to point to the food groups as they are mentioned. (The Food Pyramid is in the public domain, so it's legal to use it. The USDA/DHHS asks that you use the original design without alteration and credit it accordingly. Information about this can be found at the same web site as mentioned before. You can even download the graphic image.)

If you are doing the piece in performance, consider adding costumes. Do a little more cross curricular work and research what ancient Egyptians might have worn. Or go more Hollywood. (Think Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.) Have all students dress up, or maybe just the soli group and/or the readers.

Add some classic ancient Egyptian stereotypical movement to really make it fun. We're betting your kids know what we mean: One arm in front, bent up at the elbow, out at the wrist; the other arm behind, bent down at the elbow, out at the wrist. Both feet facing the same direction, shuffling along to the beat. Make it as simple or elaborate as you like. But keep it only during the chorus each time, not during the spoken solos. Or, as we suggest on the music, only let it occur during the "nyah's" to make it more special. Again, all students could join in, or just the soli group. At the very end of the song, have everyone strike an "Egyptian pose" similar to the one described above. One more silly notion: Throw in a "snake charmer" every time the oboe plays. Put a large basket with a fake snake on a string in it. Let it "dance" to the music, too.