Why I love the Teal Pumpkin Project
One of my favorite food allergy initiatives is Food Allergy Research & Education’s Teal Pumpkin Project. I am 100% in love with this project! It takes the opportunity to educate people about food allergies and makes Halloween inclusive for allergy kids.
Back in the 90s when I was a young trick-or-treater, we would have to throw away more than half of my candy due to allergens.
Making Halloween Inclusive with the Teal Pumpkin Project
Halloween is a time when allergy kids have to exercise serious self-control. I was under strict instruction not to snack on anything until we got home and sorted all the Halloween candy. Can you imagine a 9-year-old with a bag of candy they aren’t allowed to touch?! These were the Halloween rules, which I thought every kid had to follow. It was only in my tweens did I realize these rituals (rules) were because of my food allergies.
My parents never made a big deal about my allergies. Anything they did to protect me was done discreetly so that I wouldn’t feel different. One amazing thing they did was to make a game of sorting the Halloween candy. I loved this game! It was my favourite part of trick-or-treating because I could see my whole ‘score’ and find out what the most popular candy was that year (it was generally one with peanuts). By making it a game it took away the potential pain of having half the candy taken away.
The ‘sort the candy game’ was the best thing for an allergy kid when allergies were still rare. But in the end, it is incredibly wasteful to get rid of so much perfectly fine candy. With food allergies on the rise that’s going to be a lot of treats in the garbage. This is why the Teal Pumpkin Project is amazing! No more wasted candy and no more feeling Halloween is a celebration that points out an allergy kid’s restrictions.
Get your teal pumpkin!
It is so simple to take part in the project: all you need is to paint your pumpkin teal or print out a sign that says you offer allergy friendly or non-food treats. You can also purchase teal pumpkins and non-food related treats from CVS! The gifts you offer can be anything from bubbles to stickers. The dollar store is a great place to look for fun trinkets.
If you decide to take part, there is a map that shows allergy friendly houses and shops in your neighborhood. You can get more information on FARE’s website.
Happy trick-or-treating!
Spread the word! Pin the photo below↓
A great movement in the allergy community!
I just bought my pumpkin and my paint!
This is such a GREAT idea! I have never heard of this before. Thanks for this!
Sara
whatthegirlssay.com
Thank you for sharing your personal experiences! These are the most valuable things that continue to support inclusive progress in our community!
This is such a fantastic project — it’s so hard for kids when everyone around them is enjoying!
We used to play the ‘candy sorting game’ also! was my favourite part of the night! I think the ‘rejects’ went to our neighbours’ kid (lucky kid!!)
We love teal pumpkin too! We will be handing out little buckets with stickers, pencils and a spider ring in them.
I just heard about this movement this week. That’s so great that kids with allergies will finally get the support they need
I am so happy that the awareness is growing for the Teal pumpkin a project. I didn’t know you could look up houses to see where to go but that’s great!
I love that two-toned pumpkin! Not only is it so pretty, and something that I haven’t seen before, it also looks like a show of solidarity to me – appreciating the tradition of Halloween but bringing allergen safety into the picture.
I love this! Not only because I love that color but the great message behind it! We will definitely be painting pumpkin or two to put out!
What an excellent idea! I also love the Teal color but this is such a big issue now with children and I don’t think we put a lot of thought into Halloween for those with allergies . Great way to get the word out!
This is such a great project! My honor society will be participating this year. Many of our members will be putting out teal pumpkins this year.
As a special needs mom, I think this is such a great and thoughtful way of celebrating Halloween.
Thanks for sharing.
I love this! My husband and I have been talking about what we want to give out this year. In years past we’ve given out small individual sized bags of SkinnyPop but want to do something non-food as well. Time to paint my pumpkin!
I just heard about this the other day. It’s a great idea. Any suggestions on what allergy-friendly treats to hand out?
Stickers, pencils, bouncy balls, glow sticks are all a great choice. I think the best thing do to is check out what the dollar store has 😀 Happy trick-or-treating!
This is such a great idea! I like the idea of stickers!! The teal pumpkin project is awesome 🙂