Regarding allergies to strawberries:  strawberries are one of the most
chemically treated crops in the US--if they are not grown organically.
They are treated with fungicide, pesticide and herbicide.

My eldest attempted to pick them years ago to make money--she was about
8 or 9 years old.  She came home ill for two days and we just said "no
more-you have to quit."  We don't know if it was handling them or from
eating them.  The second day she agreed not to taste any from the field
and she still got sick.

I myself am allergic to kiwis.  I believe they are in the latex family
of crops as my throat burns and feels as though it is swelling--I get an
instant sore throat.

My husband is fond of buying out of season fruit.  One winter he brought
home grapes from Chile.  He tasted on the drive home before washing any
and his lips burned.  He attributed it to a chemical also.  Our brother-
in-law who lived in the Napa Valley at one time called to tell us not to
eat grapes from there that year.  He said it was such a wet spring that
growers sprayed fungicide on grapes six times that years--a record.

There was a 60 minutes program just a few years ago analyzing what both
white and black families who planned mealtimes fed their children.  They
were accompanied by the interviewer to the supermarket.  Fresh fruits
and vegetables where prefered by these conscientious moms, even as they
introduced solid foods to their little ones.  The lab analysis was those
were the most heavily chemical laden foods.  The mothers were horrified
about the levels they were unwittingly serving.  They all said they felt
guilt and were mad they did not know what chemcials were in and on the
foods they were buying.  They felt taken advantage of by the food
industry.  Organic growers and consumers were vindicated on that show.
Judy Ritchie

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