It’s that time of year again. The leaves begin to droop, the temperature starts to drop and our hot, humid world begins its slow — but sure — transition into fall. And to commemorate the beginning of October, America’s restaurants have banded together to bombard us with that quintessential fall fruit: the pumpkin.
And this, my friends, is a problem. Like last year, it looks like there might be another pumpkin shortage this season, with reports concerning farmers losing their crop to Hurricane Irene or other forms of severe weather.
Most sources say that though there should be enough pumpkins, it’s not a great idea to wait until the last minute to get that jack-o-lantern for Halloween. One could end up with the pumpkin equivalent of Charlie Brown’s little stick tree in the “Charlie Brown Christmas Special,” which may or may not be the look for which you’re going.
During this time, normal eateries such as Starbucks, Sonic, IHOP, Einstein Bros. Bagels and a handful of others ditch their regular fare in favor of serving up holiday items, all of which feature the pumpkin. There’s the famous pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, which also comes in frappucino form, not to mention the new pumpkin cream cheese muffins, a welcome addition to anyone’s daily intake of orange.
Meanwhile, Sonic is busy promoting its pumpkin milkshake, while IHOP is serving up piping hot plates of pumpkin pancakes. Looking for a healthier way to get the daily dose of pumpkin? Well, Einstein Bros. has started serving up a pumpkin bagel, so one is never too far from America’s favorite gourd. 
Look, it’s great that restaurants are getting creative with holiday foods; it makes me believe that these gigantic businesses sincerely care about our happy memories for fall. But when does holiday spirit turn into sheer ludicrousness? My belief? When Poptarts has joined the pumpkin mania, something’s got to be wrong. Sorry, but selling special edition pumpkin pie poptarts is just weird.
But it’s not just the restaurants. Walk into any furniture store nowadays and it’s almost guaranteed that the smell of Yankee Candle’s “Pumpkin Pie” will be wafting around the store. The fever has begun, and it’s not going to quit until America has been stuffed to the brim with pumpkins. Think this is an exaggeration? Watch this: Craving some beer? Try Samuel Adam’s “Harvest Pumpkin Ale.” What about something to snack on? Eat some Little Debbie “Fall Pumpkin Delight” pumpkin-filled cookies. Feeling sick? There’s pumpkin seed oil for that. Need a new outfit for fall? Well Ruche clothing is now offering a pumpkin spice dress, which is sure to really complement every girl’s complexion.
It appears as if America is putting pumpkins on pedestals, to a ridiculous extent. Whether it’s through decorating, cooking, clothing, et cetera, pumpkins have taken over, and it’s time for this trend of pumpkin worship to slow down before everyone gets pumpkin overload and swears off the gourd forever.
If we don’t watch out, this mania will soon wear out its welcome, and seeing how we have a solid few months until the fall season ends, I think we need to trim back this pumpkin consumption before we all end up eating pumpkin muffins in our pumpkin pants, walking to the Union for our pumpkin spice latte, all while listening to our iPumpkinPod. So before this plethora of pumpkins grows too big to handle, I propose we switch — temporarily — to a new fall vegetable, one that hasn’t received excessive exposure: the cauliflower. I’m sure Starbucks will think of a way to make the cauliflower spice latte catch on.
Claire Mosley is a freshman majoring in  accounting. She can be contacted at [email protected].