There's No Trick to the Co-op's Halloween Treats

When I was a kid, people in my neighborhood that wanted to hand out an alternative to candy on Halloween apparently had two choices: pennies or pencils. I can remember staring at those items, strewn on the carpet amongst my brightly colored loot, so out of context I could barely understand what they were. What is this, a pencil? How’d that get in here? A penny?

Now that I know more about things like artificial dyes, refined sweeteners and hydrogenated oils though, I see things differently. Those unconventional neighbors have been recast in my mind as heroes for those with allergens and food intolerance. I’ve even considered following suit—what alternative could I offer visiting children? The flimsy spider ring? The tiny box of raisins?

No, I like fun. Prohibition isn’t my style. For kids, Halloween is pretty much about candy, with a little dress-up and staying up late thrown in for good measure. So as I often do, I turned to the co-op for help—I needed gummy bears made with plant-based dyes and I needed them now!

Food co-ops have come quite a distance towards offering options for a variety of cultural traditions. There are abundant options for Halloween treats and—psst—they are ridiculously good. Even I-hope-we-get-fewer-kids-than-usual good, if you know what I mean. With ingredients like sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, coconut and palm oils instead of hydrogenated fats, and fair trade chocolate, these treats don’t sleep—they are accomplishing multiple goals!

I’m not kidding myself to think that any of that makes candy any better for you to eat, but I do know that for the health of the people involved in making our candy, fair trade is best. In the chocolate industry in particular, fair trade certification is the easiest way for us as shoppers to know that the cocoa beans used to make your chocolate were not farmed using unpaid child labor and other human rights abuses.

I am grateful that there are committed people all along the supply chain from farm to food co-op making these options readily available to me. However you like to participate in your family’s cultural traditions, check out the co-op—their options might surprise you!