Giving Kids a Healthy Halloween
It’s sad but true: As a society, we bemoan skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity, then we fill the little rascals with all the candy we can give them on Halloween. So we asked Mary Saucier Choate—the Co-op’s Dietitian and Food and Nutrition Educator—to suggest some healthy alternatives, and her ideas were so practical and popular that we keep them on our website throughout the year. Mary is a big fan of dressing up and having fun on Halloween while still keeping health and wellness in mind. She is also always up for a challenge, and this certainly posed one. Suggestions could not include items that could easily be tampered with, so bulk foods, fresh fruit and vegetables, and other items from unsealed packages were out. What did she come up with? Before stocking up on Halloween giveaways, check out Mary’s list below!
Halloween and Healthful Snacks
by Mary Saucier Choate
For some folks, giving out candy on Halloween seems to just feed into the “sugar addict” culture we seem to live in sometimes.
If you are one of the few, the brave, the house that gives out healthy treats, here are some ideas that kids will enjoy and you will feel good about giving out.
- Single serving packages of nuts or sunflower seeds (ask about allergies first!)
- 100-calorie whole grain crackers or other 100-calorie snack packs.
- String Cheese Sticks
- Granola bars
- Single serving bags of tortilla chips
- Single serving 100 percent juice boxes, chocolate milk boxes, or chocolate soymilk boxes
- Low fat microwave popcorn packet
- Single serving dried fruit packet
- Fruit leather
- Calcium-fortified hot cocoa packets
Also consider non-food treats such as:
- “Dollar Store” jump ropes
- Decorative Stickers
- Reflective stickers
- Mini crayons
- Sidewalk chalk
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Mini notepads
Happy Halloween!
Meet Dani Monteith
If you shop the delicious Prepared Foods counter of our Hanover Food Store (pssst: If you don’t, you should!), then no doubt you’ve met the cheerful, smiling face of Dani Monteith. Dani is a manager there and long-time Co-op employee, and earns the respect of peers and customers alike. Not long ago the Co-op decided to send a select group of employees to study a progressive management philosophy in St. Louis so they could return and help teach the material to other Co-op staff. Out of more than 350 employees, Dani was one of only four chosen to go. She’s smart and capable, and will even dress up in silly costumes to make the kids smile on Halloween!
Want to Know What's On Sale?
The Co-op is a food store, after all, and what kind of food store would we be without specials? New store-wide specials are listed weekly, and new CAP specials are listed monthly. Ever wondered what CAP is? It stands for the Cooperative Advantage Program. What’s that? One day, a smart bunch of people decided that if cooperatives all got together, they could have strength in numbers and compete with their big-box competition, and that simple idea started a cooperative buying-power revolution.
