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The Teal Pumpkin Project



Sadly, food allergies among children are becoming more and more. Researchers estimate that 1 in every 13 children under 18 years old have some sort of food allergy. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention says that food allergies in children has risen about 50% between the years of 1997 and 2011. Every article I have read says that doctors and researchers have no idea why this number is increasing so rapidly.

With that said, being a mother to a child with food allergies makes a lot of things difficult to do and can be so emotionally taxing. Things like birthday parties, social gatherings, finding Easter Baskets, and Halloween have become frustrating times of the year for us. However, there is something that can be done to make this a little easier for those parents who have children with food allergies, and FARE or Food Allergy Research & Education has come up with something, at least for Halloween and that is the Teal Pumpkin Project. The Teal Pumpkin Project was launched by FARE in 2014. It's used to raise awareness of food allergies and encourages people, not only to include those children with food allergies, but to learn more as well.

It's extremely simple to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project. All you need to do is paint some sort of pumpkin the color teal and place it outside of your home and provide non-food treats. If you participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, you do not have to provide only non-food treats so you can cater to the other children who do not have food allergies as well. I've heard of plenty of people setting the teal pumpkin out and providing two separate bowls of treats, one with candy for children without food allergies and the non-food treats for those with food allergies and realize that the teal pumpkin means that there are treats for those children as well.

Be prepared to explain to some people who may come to your door asking what the teal pumpkin means! Spread the word though because those you explain it to may just become interested enough to do it next year or tell people they know who might participate!

You can add your home to the participation map as well so that parents can easily look up and know which homes are safe for their children to visit.

If you decide to participate and want to provide both kinds of treats, please, please, PLEASE remember to keep the non-food treats and the food treats separate!! This is extremely important!

 Sometimes the candy packages have residue from the factory or from a bag that may have broken open inside the larger bag and even the slightest touch of an allergen could trigger a child's reaction. I know my son is that way with nuts. If someone has touched them or has used something like lotion or soap with Shea butter and they touch him, he breaks out almost immediately and it takes us weeks to get it calmed down.

The FARE website has more information and also downloads and resources to help you out. The Downloads and Resources page can be found here.

If you want some ideas for non-food treats that you can hand out, there are plenty! I will list some here for you.

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you purchase from links in this post, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can find my disclosure policy here.

Non-Food Treat Ideas:
Many of these can probably be easily found at places like: Walmart, Target, Dollar Stores or Amazon. I've added links to some that I found for good prices on Amazon if you wish to buy them there.

Now, I know those may seem kind of silly, and older children may not appreciate them as much, but you are showing you have an interest, you are showing that you care and I know many children would be so elated just to be included in a children's holiday like Halloween.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps and have a happy and safe Halloween!!
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