TEAL IS NEW ORANGE
Katriona Mitchell and her son James, who has a severe allergy, will be on the lookout for homes with teal pumpkins on display during Halloween trick-or-treating. The Teal Pumpkin Project alerts candy-seekers that allergy-safe treats are available.
A Saskatoon mom says the spooky season has got a little easier for her six-year-old son because more people in Saskatoon are participating in a program aimed at providing a scary, but safe, Halloween for children with allergies.
The Teal Pumpkin Project, an awareness effort by Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) has been underway in Saskatoon since 2013. It alerts trick-or-treaters to houses with allergy-friendly treats using a teal covered pumpkin.
Shari Morpurgo, a participating mom, has been helping to organize the local effort. The program has been important for her family because her son Bennett is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts.
“Halloween has been kind of difficult for us, because most of the candy he cannot eat, and all children just want to participate in what other kids are doing,” she said.
In the past, between 50 and 100 people have participated in the program; the number appears to grow every year.
“It’s been very meaningful for me to have people to participate because it means he can get treats that are safe for him and he can feel like he’s having a real Halloween as well,” Morpurgo said. “Day-to-day is kind of a challenge in itself, and then you throw in Halloween and it gets kind of crazy.”
She stressed the teal pumpkin program isn’t anti-candy.
Households that want to participate can do so by painting a pumpkin teal and offering allergy-free candy, or by offering non-food items like pencils or Halloween trinkets.
Katriona Mitchell’s 10-year-old son James has an anaphylactic reaction to all gluten grains. She said her whole family gets excited at the sight of a teal pumpkin, noting her kids plot their trick-or-treat routes around areas where they’ve spotted one.
She said the event has also helped her son be more open about his allergies. Last year, he spoke to younger students at his school about the importance of the project.
“It’s empowering him to be open and accepting of his allergies and other kids with allergies,” she said.
Dr. Andrea Fong, a pediatric allergist and clinical immunologist, said the benefits of the teal pumpkin program go beyond Halloween.
“As a byproduct, if that allows people to have that conversation about what food allergies are, and what people with food allergies have to go through and the risks and things they have to be careful with, then that’s a great conversation to have,” Fong said.
She noted that children and parents always have to be prepared, “in case there’s an accident. Just because there’s the Teal Pumpkin Project, just because there’s a nonfood option doesn’t mean you get to drop your guard and you don’t have to carry your EpiPen or read labels or things like that.”