Taylor Vander Wyst
AP Economics
Mrs. Straub
25 October 2015
With Halloween less than a week away, consumers are going to out to purchase huge bags of candy to give away to trick or treaters. According to the news site WROB, the total revenue from chocolate Halloween candy in 2014 reached $217 million. This doesn’t even include sweet candy such as Skittles or Nerds. After trick or treating, kids devour all their chocolate and sweet candy with their friends. But what about the kids who have a food allergy and can’t have candy? They must feel left out on Halloween.
This is why people at Food Allergy Research and Education(FARE) came up with the Teal Pumpkin Project to meet the demand of those with a food allergy. According to the Tampa Tribune, “the color teal was chosen for the project because it has been used to signal food allergies for nearly 20 years,” (Associated Press). To participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, people can paint a pumpkin teal, provide non-food treats, and put up a free printable sign from FARE to indicate there are non-food treats available at that home. This idea took off online last year and it was promoted nationally. FARE’s Facebook post about the Teal Pumpkin Project last year reached 2.7 million people in less than 72 hours, (Cheshire). This year, FARE has over 100,000 households throughout the United States that are pledging to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, (Food Allergy Research and Education).
Food allergies are life threatening and affect 1 in 13 children in the United States, (Cheshire). That is about two children per classroom that may not be able to enjoy Halloween candy. Fortunately there are countless substitutes to Halloween candy such as glow sticks, bubbles, vampire fangs, stickers, and bouncy balls that people can give away instead. The kids love these toys equal to, if not better than candy which increases their satisfaction. These toys cost about the same as buying a large bag of candy so it is easy for consumers to make the switch and provide non-food treats.
Everyone is encouraged to join in on the Teal Pumpkin Project. Grab some teal paint, a pumpkin and non-food treats to give out to the children this Halloween. It will be worth it for the many kids with a food allergy. To learn even more about the Teal Pumpkin Project, check out this short video.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Teal Pumpkin Project Raises Awareness of Kids’ Food Allergies.” Tampa Tribune. Tampa Media Group, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Cheshire, Sara. “Teal Pumpkins to Make Halloween Safe For Kids With Food Allergies.” CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Food Allergy Research and Education. “The Teal Pumpkin Project.” Food Allergy and Research Education. Food Allergy Research and Education Inc., 24 Sep. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Market Research. “Chocolate Halloween Candy Sales Reach $217 Million in 2014.” WROB. 2000-2015 World Now and WRCB, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Great article Taylor! I've heard about this project before, and I think it's great. Both of my brothers have peanut allergies, so I know how careful a child with allergies has to be. I hope this project continues to gain traction throughout the coming years. Glad you were able to raise awareness through this post!
ReplyDeleteI found this article very interesting because I have never heard of this before, however, it is a very good idea! I like that people are implementing substitutes so that kids with allergies can still enjoy the fun of Halloween. Last week, I read an article about how the demand for candy this time of year is increasing, however, as the awareness of this project increases, as well, I wonder what the demand trends for candy on Halloween will be like in the long run. In all, I think that this is a really great thing that people are trying to do and it could potentially change the entire holiday traditions of Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI love how you talked about something that's a good cause. I have never thought about all the kids that have food allergies and cannot eat candy, but Halloween must be pretty depressing for them. It is a great idea to have other treats that are not food. I wonder if this has had an impact on the demand for candy around Halloween. I also wonder if in years past the demand for candy was higher, but now, as more kids have allergies and there are more health concerns with candy, the demand is lower. Either way, it seems like around Halloween, the demand for candy is relatively inelastic.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard about the Teal Pumpkin project before, so I was intrigued as I continued reading your article. A few years back, I found out I was allergic to certain foods, some of which being prominent in the candies given out at Halloween. As a result, I only went to a few houses each year because trick-or-treating was no longer fun to me anymore. The opportunity cost of putting on a costume and going house to house only caused me to be restricted on what I could eat---so I started to brainstorm other ways I could spend my time. If this project had been around when I was younger, I would have enjoyed the time I spent trick-or-treating as it would have increased my satisfaction.
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ReplyDeleteThe idea of the Teal Pumpkin Project is so great! There are so many people that I know who have allegories and I never really thought of the restrictions they have at Halloween. I think giving kids non food treats would be a great break from all the candy they will be getting. I know that some dentists actually pay kids for pounds of candy they receive on Halloween, so I'm sure that would be very happy if not everyone gave out sugary treats.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard about the organization before, and considering my current eating habits I find it interesting. Although most children in my life don't have allergies I think it's important to make sure that all of the demand is met so that no child feels left out on this Halloween. As the population increases and food allergies increase there will have to be more variety for the diverse eating restrictions.
ReplyDeleteBefore this post I had no previous knowledge about what the Teal Pumpkin Project was, so reading this article gave me the a grasp of how people with allergies can't consume the same treats on Halloween that others can. I think it is a great idea that this project is implementing substitutes for children with allergies, allowing them to still enjoy the fun and excitement of Halloween. Since knowledge about this project is at a minimum I wonder if the demand for this will increase overtime and if this will influence consumers spending on candy. Overall, I believe this was a great article based on what the movement that is trying to do with compensating for children with allergies.
ReplyDeleteThis project seems like a great idea, I had never heard of it before. Although it seems like the project is still relatively new, there is great potential for success with increasing food allergies, dietary restrictions, and for kids who's parents don't want them to eat candy! I wonder if this program will end up with more demand? Also, is this program really affecting the demand for Halloween candy? From what I've seen this year, not quite. Maybe next year!
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your article, it really never occurred to me that some kids were unable to eat candy. To me, Halloween was always about candy and I am fortunate enough to not have food allergies. I have never heard of this project before, but I think it a great idea that needs to gain more consumer knowledge. I would hate for the young kids to not be able to trick-or-treat because of their food allergies, because I know I would have hated to miss out on it. Along with that, I hope that when people gain more knowledge about this project, that almost every few houses will start to be apart of this project. Overall, I believe this very informative and well-written! Now that I know more about this project, I can't want to look around and see who is all doing it this Halloween!
ReplyDeleteKnowing many people who have food allergies , myself included, the teal pumpkin project is a creative way to include all kids in Halloween. With the increasing number of kids with food allergies, the demand for non-food treats is in fact increasing. Around halloween sometimes candy is on sale. This being said, people will more willing to buy candy because it is cheaper than toys because they are more expensive. ( law of demand) Due to the many candy companies we do not have to worry about the price of candy being outrageously expensive because when one cady id too much money, we can go to the substitutes candy. Because the demand for candy is so great it is a normal good. Consumers are so used to buying candy in october, that changing it up to buy toys could be hard, but it's for a good cause.
ReplyDeleteKnowing many people who have food allergies , myself included, the teal pumpkin project is a creative way to include all kids in Halloween. With the increasing number of kids with food allergies, the demand for non-food treats is in fact increasing. Around halloween sometimes candy is on sale. This being said, people will more willing to buy candy because it is cheaper than toys because they are more expensive. ( law of demand) Due to the many candy companies we do not have to worry about the price of candy being outrageously expensive because when one cady id too much money, we can go to the substitutes candy. Because the demand for candy is so great it is a normal good. Consumers are so used to buying candy in october, that changing it up to buy toys could be hard, but it's for a good cause.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard about this project before and I think it's a great idea, not only will more kids have an enjoyable time and feel more included but if this project grows large enough imagen the revenue it will add to the total Halloween revenue. Consumer will start demanding this simple but fun toys more in order to contribute to this cause.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really cool project. Because I don't have any allergies I don't think much about other children with food allergies. I believe that this project will have great success in the future with the increasing amount of people with food allergies and that increase the demand in little trinkets as you said such at glo-sticks, vampire teeth, necklaces, etc. Because of the increase of awareness, it is complement to the increase of sale of the fun toy products. I hope they pursue this project even further into the future!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I feel that changing the entire trick or treat celebration is wrong. It may sound harsh but only 1 in 13 kids fall into the category of having a food allergy. Is this really necessary to change the entire system and point of trick or treating just to satisfy 1 in 13 children. Although it is unfortunate that some kids are unable to enjoy the candy they are still able to go trick or treating. When I was a little younger and trick or treating, I wanted candy, not a glow stick.
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ReplyDeleteIts that time of year again where the kids get to trick or treat. This is such an awesome project that is being presented. As candy sales has increased this had brought many questions up to the kids with food allergies. How can they participate in such a fun activity if there alergic to the candy. It’s also awesome that the project has reached out to over 2.7 million people in less than 48 hours. And that there has been more than 100,000 households throughout the United States that are pledging to participate. One thing that could make this post stronger is how will this affect the sales of the subsidies such as glow sticks, bubbles, vampire fangs, stickers, and bouncy balls. But overall this post had a well thought out idea.
ReplyDeleteIts that time of year again where the kids get to trick or treat. This is such an awesome project that is being presented. As candy sales has increased this had brought many questions up to the kids with food allergies. How can they participate in such a fun activity if there alergic to the candy. It’s also awesome that the project has reached out to over 2.7 million people in less than 48 hours. And that there has been more than 100,000 households throughout the United States that are pledging to participate. One thing that could make this post stronger is how will this affect the sales of the subsidies such as glow sticks, bubbles, vampire fangs, stickers, and bouncy balls. But overall this post had a well thought out idea.