If I asked you what colour you associated with Halloween what do you think you would answer? Orange? Maybe black? What about red? Well there is a new colour in town for Halloween and it is so not what you are thinking. It’s teal. Teal as in that often loud, garish colour combo of blue and green. Pretty in it’s own right, but still a hard colour to pull off, let alone find. Teal as in the colour for Food Allergy Awareness. Come on, you had to know I would be bringing up food allergies sooner or later. Halloween is the perfect time for it!
All kidding aside this Halloween we have carved our usual orange pumpkins up with some creepy faces, all set to adorn the front porch. But this year the scene will change a bit when we introduce this bad boy into the mix:
This lovely pumpkin was painted teal in honour of a new initiative that has taken the world by storm this fall and that is the #TealPumpkinProject. The idea behind this project was to help make Halloween a little less scary for children with food allergies. Help them to feel included and safe. I have to say I absolutely love this idea! The original plan came from Becky Basalone, executive director for Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee (FACET). This group is affiliated with FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) who, with Ms. Basalone’s approval, have brought the #TealPumpkinProject to the world!
The general message of the #TealPumpkinProject is to let children, and their parents, know that a house that is displaying a teal pumpkin has safe treats for them to collect on Halloween night. Again I have to say how much I love this idea!! For the most part FARE is advocating having non food treats to give out, like stickers, pencils, erasers, glow sticks, mini notebooks, vampire fangs, spider rings and more. The possibilities are endless! You can visit the FARE website to download free printables to share, including stickers and posters.
We are changing up the rules a little for our #TealPumpkinProject. Due to William’s allergies to peanuts and tree nuts we will only be giving out peanut and tree nut free treats. Next year I will be more on the ball with this and come up with a treat that makes everyone happy, but for this year we are sticking with the nut free variety.
Whether you have a child with food allergies or know one joining in on the #TealPumpkinProject is a great way to show your support for Food Allergy Awareness and help provide a safer Halloween for everyone.
What type of treats do you shell out on October 31st? Whatever it is I wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween!
FT&PD
Suz
Please don’t claim to be “FOOD ALLERGY” safe and then ONLY hand out things that are PEANUT / Treenut safe.
That leaves out a LOT of children, and will seriously dissapoint those who know that that teal pumpkin SHOULD be a safe spot for them, when it is in fact still as deadly a stop as any other
Whoa Lea, that is quite the accusation to throw at a parent who has seen the dark side of food allergies one too many times. Please read my post with the same compassion it was written with before you comment. Since this post was written before Halloween I can tell you now what happened during it. We are lucky if we get fifty kids at Halloween, many of them I know personally. It was heartwarming to see and hear the interest many kids and their parents had in our teal pumpkin. It generated conversation and every single one was met with positivity. That is what food allergy awareness is about. As the parent of a child with food allergies I would think you would agree this is important. As I state in my post we were not able follow the guidelines FARE is using THIS YEAR, but we will be next, for sure. Perhaps you should focus on the good efforts of others and not be so negative.
This is a great idea and would have love to participate if I hear about it earlier.
There is always next year Chantal and just knowing you are supportive is a big part of this whole thing..
A very thoughtful way of halloween! I might share the idea as well to our homeowners association to consider it next time.
Happy halloween!
That is awesome Raymond. Awareness is key!
We’ve given out nut-free treats for years. One year a boy saw I was about to put chocolate in his bag and he quickly closed it and pulled it back. “I have a nut allergy” he said. I found it so sad. His face lit up when I reassured him it was chocolate from a nut-free source.
That is awesome to hear! I know that it is impossible to make everyone happy, but knowing people are trying shows their hearts are in the right place.
While there’s a totally different reason for the teal-colored pumpkins, I do think that it’s unique and cool. It adds a nice twist to the usual Halloween colors. FARE did an awesome job with this campaign.
And it did generate a lot of questions and conversation Russ, which was the goal..
Oooh pretty cool idea! Should give the parents a heads up on which houses have healthier treats.
Well, not so much healthier as safer..
Food allergy awareness is SO very important. This is such a great movement! And I love teal
I guess teal isn’t such a bad colour Debbie, but man it is hard to find, LOL
Having Celiac Disease, I love this idea!! It such a great initiative
One year at a time Jennifer and soon all food allergies and issues can be addressed at Halloween..
We just got back from trick-or-treating. Didn’t see any teal pumpkins, but the kids also didn’t get any candy with peanuts in it.
Yes! I saw a big decrease in the stuff with nuts this year as well Kate..
I love this movement and I would want to advocate for this too! It’s great that there are groups of people considering other kids who has allergies.
Thank you for sure support Louise
I would not really associate teal with Halloween nor allergies.
Funny how you call the color garish. What was the history behind teal green as the color for allergy awareness? – Fred
I think that is part of making it an effective tool in bringing about awareness Fred. No one would expect teal to be found on a pumpkin, LOL and now that Halloween is over I can tell you it generated a lot of great conversation and awareness..
Great initiative and good way to create awareness on food allergies. Kudos to people behind #TealPumpkinProject
It is a wonderful way to spread awareness!
I love teal and I do not associate it with Halloween. I do hope there is thought given to those who are distributing candies. I hope they can find a healthier and safer alternative. -katrina centeno
It is hard to put teal and Halloween together, for sure, but I think that is what will make this a successful way to bring about awareness..
Thats interesting. Although I don’t really see the link of painting the pumpkin teal… Because the colour will look dark at night right? But i love the idea of telling people your house is giving out allergies free stuff!
Teal is the colour of food allergies Tiffany, just like pink is for breast cancer. In our case we have a light on our porch, mostly for safety, and people had no problem seeing our pumpkins..
I love the teal colour, it is a stunning colour! A great idea but would never have put the two together! Simone x
It looks pretty good on a pumpkin too!
That is definitely a good idea. That would be beneficial not only for those trick or treaters but also their for parents. They will be aware of what treats will their children can get from each houses.
Yup, it is a great idea!
I love the idea of the Teal Pumpkin Project and making Halloween less scary for kids with food allergies. I am definitely behind that idea. I would love to congratulate The Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee for this awesome project!
I agree Vanessa, I think they did a fine job with bringing about this project..
It’s nice that you are decorating with a cause in mind. The teal pumpkin looks great anyway
Thanks Kareen!
So sad to read there are so many allergies kids can have nowadays.
I have a colleague who is lactose intolerant and often when I buy food back from my travels to share with the office, I got to remember his allergies and made sure he can eat them too.
It is kind of you to think of him Priscilla, not many would..
This is such a great movement because now you can include kids with more allergies in trick or treating! Now they’ll feel included, and happier!
Exactly!
That is so weird yet so cool! It adds a little twist in our usual Halloween habits!
Definitely not weird, but just different. It gives the chance for all kids to feel like they belong..
This is an interesting campaign and at the same time, very helpful and beneficial to kids with food allergies. Not only they will enjoy Halloween’s Trick or Treat more but they will never worry about allergy.
Well said..
I really love this idea. I saw it at a few places. Sadly, we don`t get to give out candy as we live in a high-rise but I will be sure to share this with my network for next Halloween. I think it`s a great initiative.
Thanks Kelly, every little bit helps!
We buy full size chocolate bars from Costco. While we did not have a teal pumpkin this year, I always make sure that one of the boxes I buy is peanut free and keep them separate. I ask before handing out and this year we didn’t have any that required them
Thanks for your diligence Ashley
This is great project, thinking of kids safety.
Thank you!
What a great idea! I hope more people catches on with this as the years go by – looking forward to more “bad boy” pumpkin carvings
I have always provided an alternative for kids with allergies with the same type of items FARE gives ideas for. You can get really creative making little gift bags with dollar store stuff, or giving out juice boxes, etc.
Thank you for this article.
What a lovely initiative! Besides the teal pumpkin looks so much cuter than the orange one.
We no longer get trick or treaters and haven’t for many years as all the young kids have grown and gone and no new ones yet. We are very rural so even at the height of youngsters we only had 10 and knew them all.
I try to make every child happy and give out $store gifts