Halloween Party Offers Scary Twist: No Candy

Oct. 12, 2010 - PRLog -- In anticipation of Halloween, one celebration this year is eliminating candy.  That’s right—no candy. It’s the inaugural Healthy Harvest Party, Friday, October 22, 2010; 7-9 p.m. at Middlesex Presbyterian Church in Butler, PA.

“Our culture barrages kids with candy especially at Halloween,” explains Rebecca Wirtz, co-founder of Nurturing Naturally, the group hosting the candy-less party. “We wanted to offer families an opportunity to experience plenty of fun minus the dependence on all the processed sugar.”

Healthy Harvest will feature homemade foods such as Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Norwegian Apple Cake and Healthy Harvest Trail Mix to name a few. All will contain sweeteners such as Sucanat and Xylitol instead of white refined sugar. Games planned include pumpkin painting, face painting, bobbing for apples, a costume contest and other traditional party activities.

Some Halloween statistics prompting the creation of the Healthy Harvest Party:

•   Americans will spend $1.8 billion on Halloween candy this year alone, according to the National Retail Federation.
•   The average American will spend approximately $20.29 on Halloween candy.
•   The number one way people celebrate Halloween: hand out candy.
•   35 million pounds of candy corn are produced each year.

“Our nation definitely has a sweet tooth,” says Ruth Ann Bowen, also co-founder of Nurturing Naturally. “According to the U.S. Census, in 2009 Americans consumed approximately 24.3 pounds of candy per person. With the Healthy Harvest Party we’re sending a different Halloween message: You can ditch the candy and still have fun.”

Nurturing Naturally is a new group founded by Wirtz and Bowen in May of this year. The two moms’ mission centers on helping people bring yesterday’s pantry into today’s kitchen. They write a blog at www.touchedbynature.wordpress.com, as well as hold bi-weekly meetings in the North Pittsburgh area, and can be followed via Facebook at Nurturing-Naturally and on Twitter @nurtnat.


For more information:
Ruth Ann Bowen
kbpreacherwife@gmail.com
Facebook: Nurturing-Naturally
Twitter: @nurtnat
Phone: 724-991-1934

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About Nurturing Naturally: You are what you eat, but what are you eating? Nurturing Naturally helps bring yesterday's pantry into today's kitchen. Rebecca Wirtz and Ruth Ann Bowen are two moms on a mission providing information and insights concerning food and the food industry. Americans are slowly, yet unknowingly, committing food suicide with the typical U.S. diet consisting of pre-packaged food products, chemicals, preservatives, additives, sugars, and the list goes on. Wirtz and Bowen are out to change that.

"Most Americans aren't aware of what's in their food," Wirtz explains. "We live in a busy society where most people don't take the time to read ingredient labels or research what they are really eating. Nurturing Naturally provides that extra step for people so they can have the whole picture of what's on their plates."

Bowen continues, "There's a misperception that eating healthy is expensive and takes a lot of time to prepare. We show them that's not true."