Treats Fit for a-Gobblin’

Thanks to the wide variety of vegan candies and snacks that are available, you can serve up tasty treats and still be Franken-kind to animals. But be sure to read the labels carefully—some candies contain scary ingredients that are not for the faint of heart, such as gelatin, which is made from animal bones, hooves, and other body parts, and carmine, a red food dye that is made from crushed beetles. Many chocolates contain cow’s milk, but Bessie won’t mind if you sample some of the delicious dairy-free chocolates from Harbor Candy, Tropical Source, Rapunzel, Tree Huggin’ Treats, and ChocoSoy. Fine candies are made by these and other chocolatiers and are available at online merchants such as Food Fight and Pangea, which are featured at the PETA Mall.

Blame the Celts for the Extra Calories
Halloween may mean trick-or-treating to most people today, but its origins are religious. The ancient Celts celebrated the harvest and honored the dead during a festival called Samhain, which was observed on November 1 (New Year’s Day on the Celtic calendar). Eventually, November 1 morphed into a day to honor saints, and October 31 came to be known as All Hallows’ Eve, a.k.a. Halloween.

Where does the candy come in? On New Year’s Eve, it was believed that the spirits of the dead mingled with the living. People left food on their doorsteps to keep hungry spirits from entering the house. They also dressed up in ghost and goblin costumes so that wandering spirits would mistake them for “kindred” spirits and leave them alone. Later, people started giving out “soul cakes” to beggars in exchange for prayers for their dead relatives. Children started going “a-souling” in their neighborhoods, and this evolved into today’s trick-or-treating ritual.

Recipes to Die For
Whether you’re a saint or a sinner, you’ll want to treat yourself to these frightfully good Halloween treats:

	• Candied Apples • Chocolate ‘Spiders’ • Caramel Apples • Buckeyes • Popcorn Balls

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