In the face of a possible pumpkin shortage and soaring pumpkin prices, Dole Food Company, Inc. is encouraging Halloween revelers to carve a pineapple instead this year.
The pineapple and fresh produce leader is stepping-up this year's annual Pineapple-O'-Lantern initiative – originally created to promote the nutrition and convenience benefits of the ubiquitous tropical fruit synonymous with Dole's origins in Hawaii – to help suddenly stranded Halloween lovers without a pumpkin to carve.
In addition to promoting a special recipe, its Pineapple Jack-O'-Lantern and Bountiful Fruit Salad with Orange-Mint Dressing, Dole is offering free, downloadable pineapple Jack-O'-Lantern carving templates on the Dole.com website to make the process as fun, safe and easy as possible.
"For years we've been encouraging fruit-loving families to try something new by carving a pineapple at Halloween and are now expanding our efforts in light of any possible pumpkin scarcity," said Melanie Marcus, RD, MA, Dole's nutrition and health communications manager. "Of course, pineapples have an important nutritional profile and are so much easier to prepare and enjoy than pumpkins since you don't have to cook them."
According to Marcus, the fruit is low in fat and sodium and high in vitamin C and antioxidants – making it the perfect sweet treat after a night of trick-or-treating.
In addition to the Bountiful Fruit Salad recipe, Marcus recommends Dole's Pineapple Braised Slow Cooker Chicken and Pineapple-Turmeric Smoothie as other fall favorites. She offers tips for planning a healthier Halloween in her dedicated blog post on the Dole website and points to new studies showing that childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic as one reason behind Dole's expanded healthy Halloween focus this year.
For more information, please visit www.dole.com and Dole's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest pages.
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