We’ve covered how our Council of Vegan Parents handles vegan Hallowe’en candy from a child’s perspective, but what do you do when you’re the one stuck at home giving out treats to everyone who comes to your door?
Vegan-friendly candy
Several members of the Council have sought out some “top shelf” goodies, either online or at their health food store. Kari found vegan gummy bears at Whole Foods, and I apologize in advance for the 10 pounds you might gain from this link, but Rebecca pointed out the Natural Candy Store which apparently is open year round, but they’ve got a vegan category and everything.
Packaged baked goods are also an option – it’s too late this year and it’s local to Toronto, but by way of example Sweets From the Earth had a deal this year where you could get 100 individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies for $18. If you have a bakery in your area, check to see if they have specials, or depending on the volume of visitors in your neighbourhood, it might be affordable to break open some boxes of single serving vegan desserts.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the brand names being different on the candy you hand out – thinking back to my childhood session of trying desperately to fill an entire pillowcase with goodies, there was always some stuff in there that I’d never seen before, or since, but as long as it was candy, I wasn’t too discerning. If the package says organic or other healthy-sounding things, the other parents will appreciate it at the very least.
It doesn’t have to be candy
A quick trip to the dollar store can yield a ton of options that don’t have any food issues associated with them: think about stickers, temporary tattoos, noisemakers, or just about anything in the party favour aisle.
I’m sure there’s debate over this, but this is probably a good day to stay vegan but leave the activism costume locked away – stickers with animals on them are cool, but animal rights messaging is probably going to get lost or misdirected on the 31st, so save your veg-themed stickers for the rest of the year – kids still love them, but they’ll have more impact when they’re not competing with 20 pounds of sugar.
Remember to register!
It’s still early, but this might turn out to be a great resource for vegan parents over time: NoTrickTreats.com is an online registry where you can tell the world that you’re giving out vegan-friendly treats at Hallowe’en. Of course, it’ll be great for parents who are going out with their kids too, but until a lot more listings show up your entry will give ideas to other parents who haven’t seen this post yet.
What else?
Just like with regular groceries, there are tons of options for candy that are either accidentally or specifically vegan. If you’re giving something vegan (or non-food) out this Hallowe’en, share it in the comments!
Once again, thanks to Denise, Kimberly, Kari, Sarah, Rebecca, Doh and Julie for their help on this one!
(Photo from Boardwalk Chocolates, and yes, those eyeballs are vegan! Ewwwww!)
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