The Teal Pumpkin Project

What is the Teal Pump­kin Project?

The hol­i­days are com­ing quick­ly, which means it is almost time for Hal­loween. Tra­di­tion­al­ly Hal­loween has been a day where chil­dren can bet on one thing, CAN­DY! No, this is not a blog post telling you to lock your chil­dren up that day and make them eat raw broc­coli, but rather a post to explain how we can make this hol­i­day inclu­sive for chil­dren with food allergies.

Accord­ing to Food Aller­gy Research and Edu­ca­tion, 1 in 13 chil­dren have a food aller­gy. The most com­mon aller­gens are foods that unfor­tu­nate­ly hap­pen to also be pret­ty com­mon, such as: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, treenuts, soy, fish, and shell­fish. For these chil­dren Hal­loween can be a source of stress and con­stant wor­ry because most sin­gle serv­ing can­dy does not even list the ingre­di­ents on the label. Imag­ine hav­ing to sit out Hal­loween year-after-year all because there is an unknown risk of ana­phy­lax­is or even death.

Luck­i­ly, that is where the Teal Pump­kin Project comes in. Par­tic­i­pat­ing homes have the option of a treat such a can­dy, but also offer the option of a toy or item for those that can­not par­take in food items. These non-food items do not need to break the bank, stop by a local dol­lar store to get items in bulk such as:

• Pen­cils
• Stick­ers
• Slinkys
• Spi­der rings
• Slime
• Coins
• Play­ing cards
• Glow sticks
• Bub­bles
• So many more!

Being a part of this is easy, either paint a pump­kin teal or go to foodal​ler​gy​.org and print out a Teal Pump­kin Project sign. Then, sim­ply ask trick-or-treaters if they pre­fer can­dy or a toy. This small ges­ture is enough to make the night fun and inclu­sive for all chil­dren. After all, Hal­loween is sup­posed to be enjoyable!