Thanksgiving is a traditional autumn holiday in multiple countries around the world. In the United States it is noted for family reunions accompanied by a turkey feast and often watching or being involved in some type of sporting event.

Thanksgiving in North America is thought to have originated with the 1621 harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims. Ample evidence, however, indicates that Native Americans celebrated the harvest season well before the Pilgrims.

In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation to celebrate the country’s independence and the signing of the Constitution. Thereafter, some states celebrated Thanksgiving but others did not.

Finally, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Today’s classic American Thanksgiving meal most commonly includes ample roasted turkey, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and, of course, pumpkin pie. Dressing recipes throughout the country vary, with some including bread, rice or corn as the stuffing base. This traditional feast contains a hefty amount of protein but likely more fat and sugar than typical dinner meals.

QUESTION: How did the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving feast resemble that of today?

ANSWER: Edward Winslow, an original passenger on the Mayflower, wrote that there were plentiful fowl as part of the celebration fare. These could have been either wild turkeys or various types of waterfowl (ducks and geese). Winslow also indicated that fish, lobster and eels were plentiful around that time and likely were part of the fare. Tubers were mentioned as part of the celebration, but neither potatoes nor sweet potatoes had yet come to the New World. Neither cranberries nor pumpkin would have been sweetened due to little or no sugar availability. Pumpkin was likely served as a starchy vegetable. In fact, it was more than 50 years later that cranberries were boiled and sweetened to resemble our present cranberry sauce side dish. Some form of Indian corn likely was in the original Pilgrim feast since the Pilgrims had learned to successfully grow this crop. Other comments written around the time of the first Thanksgiving indicated that produce like parsnips, carrots, turnips, cabbage, spinach, onions and herbs could have been included. Dried blueberries, grapes and nuts also were mentioned.

Q: What nutritional lessons can we learn from the Pilgrims’ first harvest Thanksgiving?

A: Protein was an important part of this celebration. Wild turkey is much leaner than today’s domestic turkey. However, waterfowl such as duck are generally high in both protein and fat. The meal likely contained a wide variety of food, including many colorful foods and herbs with plenty of beneficial phytochemicals.

Obviously, overeating is not beneficial for health, but adequate amounts of essential nutrients are easier to obtain when a meal includes lean protein sources and a wide variety of food.

Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dobbs also works with University Health Services.