Oct 20, 2023Spuds can add spice to Halloween traditions
Trick or tater? That’s the rallying cry of some Halloween revelers who serve up spuds to doorbell-ringing ghosts and goblins.
Pat Foy began handing out potatoes to trick or treaters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania nearly 20 years ago. He told Potatoes USA the tradition started as a joke and a way to provide a healthier treat than candy.
“I’m of Irish descent, so potatoes made sense. I gave away big baking potatoes, and before I knew it, it took on a life of its own. Who would’ve thought?” Foy said.
Now known as the “Potato Man,” Foy even weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, building a chute out of PVC pipe to shoot socially distanced spuds.
“They were like missiles coming down,” he said. “The kids loved it.”
In Anchorage, Alaska, Matt Schultz also hands out potatoes in addition to candy.
“The potato trick started with a giant basket of candy. I just put one potato in the middle as something unexpected that they could grab instead,” Schultz said. “I was shocked how many kids were just delighted by the idea — they would grab the potato and hold it over their head like a trophy. That first year I gave away at least 20 pounds of potatoes. Eventually, we ran out and had to stop.”
John Toaspern, former marketing director of Potatoes USA, hands out bags of potato chips and has theory about why his house is a popular stop.
“Kids spend all night getting nothing but sweets,” he said. “I thought, by the time they get to my house, they’ll probably want something savory and more substantive than candy to balance it all out. I started handing out bags of potato chips alongside the candy, and they were a massive hit. Almost all the kids chose the chips instead!”
Vegetables actually have a long-standing Halloween history. Carving faces into produce has roots in Ireland, where large turnips served as a prelude to pumpkins, and the term jack-o-lantern comes from an Irish folktale, according to history.com.
With 3 grams of plant-based protein, a medium (5.3 ounce), skin-on potato has more vitamin C than and more potassium than a banana, according to Potatoes USA. Potatoes are also fat-, cholesterol- and sodium-free.
“We live next door to a dentist who always gives away toothbrushes,” Schultz said. “One year they found a bunch of those toothbrushes discarded on their front lawn. We’ve never found a potato left behind!”
