Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Songs and Poems About Food

Aiken Drum
Betty Botter
Bread and Cereals
Dairy Products
Hinky Dinky Double D Farm
I Eat My Peas With Honey
Little Miss Muffet
Market Day
Ode to Tomatoes, by Pablo Neruda
Picking Apples
Pumpkins
Sand Plum Jelly, by Del Cain
Tomato Ketchup
Watermelons
We're Out of Paint, So..., by Shel Silverstein

Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon,
lived in the moon, lived in the moon,
There was a man lived in the moon,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And his hat was made of good cream cheese,
of good cream cheese, of good cream cheese,
And his hat was made of good cream cheese,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And his coat was made of good roast beef,
of good roast beef, of good roast beef,
And his coat was made of good roast beef,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And his buttons made of penny loaves,
of penny loaves, of penny loaves,
And his buttons made of penny loaves,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

And his breeches made of haggis bags,
haggis bags, haggis bags,
And his breeches made of haggis bags,
and his name was Aiken Drum.
And he played upon a ladle,
a ladle, a ladle,
And he played upon a ladle,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

Have students make up their own descriptions of Aiken Drum, such as "His eyes were made of pizza," "His coat was made of bacon," "His mouth was a banana."

Betty Botter

This is a tongue-twister. Have students race to see who can read it or say it fastest. This would be a good exercise for students to do while making butter. The recipe is in the “Recipes” section.

Betty Botter bought some butter.
"But," she said, "the butter's bitter.
If I put it in my batter,
it will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter—
that would make my batter better."

So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter.
And she put it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter!

Butter Recipe

Bread and Cereals

Breads and cereals start from seeds
Of grasses farmers grow;
They're all ground up and mixed with eggs
And other flavors for dough.

The crust of pies and dinner rolls,
And noodles of chicken soup,
Doughnuts, spaghetti, and Cream of Wheat
Are in the bread and cereals group.

Dairy Products

Dairy products are food from the farm
That came from pasture and co-op;
Milk from cows and eggs from hens
Are part of the dairy group.

We eat our eggs cooked soft or hard,
Scrambled, poached, or steamed;
From milk we make our cottage cheese,
Our yogurt, and ice cream.

Found a Peanut

Found a peanut, found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now,
Just now I found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now.

Cracked it open, cracked it open,
Cracked it open just now,
Just now I cracked it open,
Cracked it open just now.

It was rotten, it was rotten,
It was rotten just now,
Just now it was rotten,
It was rotten just now.

Ate it anyway, ate it anyway,
Ate it anyway just now,
Just now I ate it anyway,
Ate it anyway just now.

Got a stomach ache, got a stomach ache,
Got a stomach ache just now,
Just now I got a stomach ache,
Got a stomach ache just now.
Called the doctor, called the doctor,
Called the doctor just now,
Just now I called the doctor,
Called the doctor just now.
Penicillin, Penicillin,
Penicillin just now,
Just now I took Penicillin,
Penicillin just now.

Operation, operation,
Operation just now,
Just now an operation,
An operation just now.

Died anyway, died anyway,
Died anyway just now,
Just now I died anyway,
Died anyway just now.

Was a dream, was a dream,
Was a dream just now,
Just now it was a dream,
Was a dream, just now.

Then I woke up, then I woke up,
Then I woke up just now,
Just now I woke up,
I woke up just now.

Found a peanut, found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now,
Just now I found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now.

Goober Peas

Goober peas is another name for peanuts. Although peanuts are native to South America, they made their way into North America with slaves from West Africa, who planted them as a food crop to feed
themselves. They called the nut “nguba,” which was the origin of the word “goober.”

Sitting by the roadside on a summer's day
Chatting with my mess-mates passing time away
Lying in the shadows underneath the trees
Goodness how delicious eating goober peas.

Peas, peas, peas, peas
Eating goober peas
Goodness how delicious
Eating goober peas.

When a horse-man passes, the soldiers have a rule
To cry out their loudest, "Mister, here's your mule?"
But another custom, enchanting-er than these
Is wearing out your grinders, eating goober peas.

Just before the battle, the General hears a row
He says "The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now."
He looks down the roadway and what d'you think he sees?
The Georgia Militia cracking goober peas.
I think my song has lasted just about enough.
The subject's interesting but the rhymes are mighty rough.
I wish the war was over so free from rags and fleas
We'd kiss our wives and sweethearts, say good-bye to goober peas.

Hinky Dinky Double D Farm

Oh it's beans, beans, beans
That make you feel so mean,
On the farm, on the farm,
Oh, it's beans, beans, beans
That make you feel so mean,
On the Hinky Dinky 'Double D' farm.