If you happen to be the one who is in charge with taking your younger sibling around your neighborhood for trick-or-treating on Halloween, or if you are a full grown adult who still likes to dress up to go door to door to collect candy, you might happen to notice a bright teal blue pumpkin at someone’s doorstep, with the words, “Teal Pumpkin Project” etched across it. What happened to the traditional vibrant orange jack-o-lantern that usually graces people’s porches and doorsteps, you might wonder.
The Teal Pumpkin Project is a national campaign that was launched in 2014 by the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) organization, which strives to raise awareness for kids with food allergies who don’t want to be excluded from receiving certain types of candy at Halloween.
Food allergies can be a life threatening disease. As stated by the foodallergy.org website, “In the U.S., one in 13 children has a food allergy – that’s roughly one in every classroom.” Any type of food can cause a reaction. More specifically, many types of Halloween candies contain ingredients that contain common allergens such as milk, eggs, wheat, soy or nuts. This can make it difficult for kids or parents or older siblings to determine whether a candy is safe for a kid that has certain food allergies.
According to www.foodallergy.org, “FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project promotes safety, inclusion and respect of individuals managing food allergies. This nationwide movement offers an alternative for kids with food allergies, as well as other children for whom candy is not an option, and keeps Halloween a fun, positive experience for all.”
Last year alone, households in 50 states and seven countries participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project, to help provide alternatives to candy for children with allergies, according to the foodallergy.org website.
To get involved with the project, or if you want to support the organization because you have a sibling or know someone with a food allergy, which makes it hard to enjoy trick-or-treating, there a few things you can do to get involved. The easiest thing you can do is, if you live in a neighborhood that receives a lot of trick-or-treat traffic on Halloween you can be sure to provide the option of non-food treats for trick-or-treaters. Ideas for non-food treats include glow sticks, bracelets, bubbles, Halloween themed toys, stickers or playing cards. To show you have fun options for kids who can’t collect candy paint a pumpkin a bright teal color, which is the sign for the Teal Pumpkin Project.
If you want to make a donation to the project you can receive a free window sticker that advertises your house or apartment as an allergy safe place to trick-or-treat for $10. Or if you simply wanted to help spread the word in social media, you could use the hashtag, #tealpumpkinproject, which will allow you to download free materials to help spread the word.
So if you have a younger sibling, or has a younger friend who still likes to partake in the age old tradition, but has trouble trick-or-treating because their worried about food allergies, then take part in this organization, because it can help kids to enjoy Halloween, and what the best part about Halloween for kids is – getting free candy and fun treats.