What’s the deal with the Teal Pumpkin?

Halloween is the time of year when most kids and adults indulge their sweet tooth with mini versions of their favorite candies. The stores are bursting at the seams with 50, 100, and even 200-count bags of delicious snack-sized sweets. As we count down the days to Halloween, decorate the front stoop, carve pumpkins, and dress up in fantastic costumes, some families are ditching the sweets for other treats. 

Food allergies are more widely discussed and defined now than at any time in the past. It is likely you know someone with a food allergy and have respected their need for extra detail and care around what they eat. The Teal Pumpkin Project is an extension of this. 

Halloween is a fun holiday for children of all ages to venture about their neighborhood adorning their Wonder Woman and Minion costumes to collect tricks and treats. The Teal Pumpkin Project is an awareness campaign to remind others that not all of their ghoulish doorbell ringers will be consuming their candy at the night’s end. One in 13 children has a food allergy, so if you get 65 trick-or-treaters, chances are five of them are trading their candy, sharing it with others, or simply enjoying the experience without the belly-filling sugar rush.

Thanks to the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) organization and their Teal Pumpkin awareness campaign, stores like CVS, Target, and Walmart have not only non-food treats but teal pumpkins. By placing a teal pumpkin on your stoop, you signal food allergy trick-or-treaters that you have food-free treats to share. Don’t worry; you can still hand out candy; just keep a few allergy-free goodies in a separate bowl! Halloween trinkets and toys may sound like a bank buster, but grabbing a variety pack at your local superstore costs about $5 for 50 baubles! 

Kindness and inclusion are frighteningly pretty in teal this Halloween.

Learn more about the Teal Pumpkin Project at foodallergy.org

Respectfully yours,

Heather Poppins