I recently moved to a new neighborhood were there are hordes of children running the streets. Little darlings each and every one(though I’m pretty sure one of them stole my “Vegetarians Taste Better” magnetic bumper sticker). I haven’t had to worry about giving out Halloween candy before and I want to be sure that the candy I give out sends a message! An Eco-Message! I’ve been searching for the perfect candies to give out this year and it is not easy. There are a ton of options out there, but I am a monkey on a budget and I also understand the need for individually-wrapped treats. So here are my top picks of the more affordable choices:

Natural Candy Store - This store has everything from gummi candies to fair trade milk chocolate balls decorated for Halloween. Items here can be more expensive, but there are some candies that aren’t so pricey. For example, you can get about 35 green apple organic lollipops for $6.49. More expensive than safety suckers, I know, but I believe that it’s worth it. They do also have a bulk candy section that may be more in your price range.

Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops – Straight from the website: “Everything YummyEarth makes is USDA and EU certified organic, gluten-free, peanut-free and tree nut-free, and has no type of corn syrup, just fabulous award winning taste!” They are pretty affordable too. You can get a family pack of 60 lollipops for about $8. (*On a side note, I found these at Whole Foods the other day. You can buy them in bulk for $6.99 a pound or for $4.99 for a family pack – the pomegranate pucker is my current favorite!)

Green Halloween – This site has some great ideas of what to give out INSTEAD of candy. If you really want to give out candy, however, they also have some neat suggestions(some are expensive though!).

Fruitabu – I couldn’t help listing these guys. I love this stuff. Where I buy it, it can be fairly expensive, so I went looking to see if I could discover a cheaper way of getting this organic “Smooshed” fruit. Think fruit roll-up, but awesomer. They have fruit flats, fruit rolls, and fruit leathers. Some stores sell them for as much as $.75 a piece, but on their website, you can buy the fruit flats for $15.00 for 30, so there’s a little savings there. I hear that you can also get them cheaper at places like Costco if you have a membership.

Equal Exchange Mini Chocolates – This can also be a little pricey, but you get quite a bit for your money. This Co-op offers fair trade dark chocolate mini bars at $30 for 150 bars. If you search around the web a bit, you might be able to find them cheaper, but this price was taken directly from their site.

There are lots of other choices out there, but most I’ve found are either too expensive for my budget, or they don’t come in packaging that lends itself to handing out the treat to trick-or-treaters. I think one of the best options is to go to whatever store in your town sells the most eco-friendly stuff and see if they have a good offering for Halloween. You will probably be able to find some cheaper choices that way, but these websites will at least get you headed in the right direction!