Siren Call for a Vegan Halloween in DC

...In Takoma Park. Where else?  Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a Vegan Halloween.

Here's the plea from the Takoma Park listserv:

Compassion Over Killing would like to help make it easy for trick-or-treaters in the DC-area to get their fair share of cruelty-free treats this Halloween, so we're putting together a map of local houses that are handing out vegan candy-and we need your help!

The vegan Halloween map is here,and you can read more about VeganDC here.

I read this message about vegan Halloween candy on the Takoma Park DC listserv before having my morning coffee, so I wasn't entirely sure, in my pre-caffeinated state, what vegan Halloween candy is. But apparently, it wasn't the lack of caffeine that caused me to have to reread that message several times. Somebody else on the listserv asked:

I'm totally at a loss. What is vegan candy? I think this is a bit much. What's being killed by candy? Our teeth from the sugar maybe. I know that sounds flippant, but I truly don't understand.

And the answer, because we simply have to know:

Since you asked, vegan candy is candy free of animal ingredients like gellatin (which is cow cartillage) and milk. (I once thought no-one got killed or suffered for milk, but found how naive I was when I started researching and visiting modern farms). Not to mention yuchy things like acetyl palmitate (it's a waxy oil made from sperm whale and dolphin's heads).

There's a tradition (if you can call it that) of giving out healthy snacks for Halloween: things like carrots, raisins, and Cheerios. I don't know. Pity all the disappointed parents who want to steal their kids' Halloween booty, only to grab a granola bar.