Buddy the Elf knows his food groups…Do You?

by Brooke on December 6, 2011

I love the movie Elf!   It always makes me giggle :)  Buddy the Elf knows his food groups and always tries to incorporate them into all of his meals.  In the movie, he said, “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”  How come Buddy the Elf knows his food groups, but most Americans probably couldn’t name ours?

Here are the five food groups according to the new MyPlate model:

1)  Grains

2)  Vegetable

3)  Fruit

4)  Dairy

5)  Protein Foods

A few of the group names have been altered a little from the Food Pyramid days.  The Grains Group used to be called the Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta Group.  The Dairy Group used to be called the Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese Group.  The last food group name that got changed was the Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts Group, which is now called the Protein Group.  This food group name change has really gotten a lot of flack from Registered Dietitians, because it is the name of a nutrient not a food.

The best healthy eating pattern includes a good balance of all the food groups.  So, try to follow Buddy’s example and stick to our five food groups!  Don’t you wish we had his though? 😉

 

 

 

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Dagny December 6, 2011 at 11:56 pm

I thought the Four Christmas Food Groups were chocolate, cookies, gingerbread, and ham. I’ll have to reconsider.

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Brooke December 7, 2011 at 12:09 am

Haha! Nice try Dagny 😉

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Kristen @ Swanky Dietitian December 12, 2011 at 1:44 am

I love this movie! I just watched it again tonight.
Yes, wish we had those food groups!

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Brooke December 30, 2011 at 6:47 pm

Hi Kristen, Me too! I can’t help but watch it multiple times around the Holidays :)

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Kali December 27, 2011 at 11:15 pm

It’s hilarious, my husband and I were talking about this movie literally two minutes ago. I must admit I’ve known the food groups since I was a child but I havent known the change in the names. The change probably happened during my teenage years when I couldn’t care less about the groups. I’m sure someone will fight the names again and again in my life they will probably change once more. Life used to be so much more simple when the only ingredients in food were on the 5 food groups now-a-days its hard to find any of the food groups in the food we eat unless its all homemade!

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Brooke December 30, 2011 at 6:24 pm

Hi Kali, Thanks for leaving a comment! You brought up a great point. We buy way to much food and don’t make our own anymore…we need to get back to cooking with five ingredients.

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