GRAND RAPIDS — The Halloween countdown is on which means its time to prep those costumes and get the candy ready for the trick or treats…but not everyone can enjoy Halloween candy without worry of food allergies. You may have heard of the teal pumpkin project before to help signal you're offering non-food items. Now there's a way to help you track down participating houses.
The teal pumpkin project aims to raise awareness to food allergies and make Halloween more inclusive for everyone. You can place a teal pumpkin on your door step and put your house on the teal pumpkin project interactive map to let trick or treaters known you are offering non food items. Non food items takes the guesswork out of Halloween for so many kids who might not be able to fully participate in the holiday due to their allergy.
"One in 10 Americans has a potentially life threatening food allergy and that includes one in 13 children or maybe think about it that's two in every classroom. And many traditional Halloween treats are unsafe for children with food allergies, because the popular candies contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, soy, wheat or sesame. And these are some of the most common allergens in children and in adults," said Tiffany Leon, FARE assistant director of professional training.
The interactive map is simple. If you go to foodallergy.org and search teal pumpkin project you will be able to find the map. Once you click into it you can add in your exact location and the mile radius you would like to search for participating houses. Once you hit search these little teal pumpkins will pop up showing the participating houses and if you click on them you can get the exact address and what non-food items they will be passing out.
Adding your location is super easy as well. All you need to do is click on add my location, enter in your information, address and a description of the non-food items you will be passing out. Just like that you’ve helped families with food allergies enjoy the holiday with ease!
