Tag: Kids with Food Allergies

It’s Teal Pumpkin Time!

Halloween 2020 will certainly prove to be one of the strangest Halloweens of all time… even stranger than Halloween Snowmageddon of 2019. Parents everywhere are trying to figure out how Halloween will even work this year.

Will there be trick-or-treating? If there is trick-or-treating, will everyone be wearing masks? Will homeowners pass out candy or will everything be zero contact? Is it even possible to have socially distant trick-or-treating? Should we skip trick-or-treating all together and just do our own thing?

It’s enough to make my head explode.

But even with all the questions and uncertainties, there is one thing I do know for sure…

KIDS. STILL. HAVE. FOOD. ALLERGIES. DURING. A. PANDEMIC.

If you’ve heard me rant and rave about food allergies and Halloween in past years, feel free to scroll down. But if you haven’t, I ask for just two minutes of your time.

See, there’s this amazing organization called FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) that promotes food allergy awareness and kicks off an annual campaign for food allergy families during Halloween. They call it the Teal Pumpkin Project. It’s FULL of amazing resources, ideas and activities to keep allergy kiddos safe during Halloween. Here’s how it works:

  1. Homeowners (you) commit to offering allergy-safe or non-food treats as part of your Halloween goodies this year.
  2. Print off the appropriate sign and hang it on your front door.
  3. Paint a pretty teal pumpkin and display it on your porch where trick-or-treaters can easily see it.

In years past, FARE also had an interactive map where participants could mark their address so food allergy families could find Teal Pumpkin Project locations in their area. I’m not seeing this map on their website this year and I suspect it’s because of Covid-19, but if one does become available I will share that link here as well.

So that’s it. It’s that simple. And I promise you, from this food allergy momma’s heart, that YOU doing this one little gesture will impact a kiddo with food allergies in a way you don’t even know.