Lately, when I have driven by Kahuilla Mountain Farms in Aguanga, an organic farm that sells at the Temecula Certified Farmer's Market, I have thought what a blessing it is that we are becoming informed and intelligent about our food choices.

Non-organic food is certainly better than no food at all, which is sadly the plight of too many people. It is a challenge to shop, cook and eat organically, and at times I start to let it slide. But then I think of my child - and all children.

In his book "Food as Medicine," Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., reports that many childhood favorites such as peanut butter, peaches, grapes, raisins, apples, milk, cereal and strawberries are the foods most treated with chemicals.

Strawberries are the most heavily treated on the list, and the second most sprayed is coffee, according to Khalsa.

He writes: "DDT and Malathion are part of your wake-up brew unless you drink organic."

As for apples, "biting into a single non-organic apple can expose a child to the residues of 34 different pesticides," Khalsa says.

A study in Environmental Health Perspectives says that children may be particularly susceptible to pesticide residues as they have a higher intake of food and water per unit of body weight than adults, and their immature organ systems may have limited ability to detoxify these substances.

In a study in Medical News Today of children age 2 to 4 living in Seattle, concentrates of pesticide residues up to six times higher were found in children eating conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables compared with those eating organic food.

By eating a predominantly organic diet we may be able to lower incidences of cancer, coronary heart disease, allergies, Parkinson's disease, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic fatigue and hyperactivity in children.

Studies suggest that exposure to pesticides during development can permanently weaken or change the function of a child's organ systems.

Khalsa wonders if this is what is behind the 300 percent increase in childhood brain cancer and leukemia over the past 25 years, as the number and concentration of pesticides have risen.

For families who want to eat more organic food, there are ways to minimize the extra costs. There are food-buying clubs that allow people to buy in bulk and share with friends and neighbors; community-supported agriculture in which people agree to pay a "share" of a farm's operating expenses in exchange for regular deliveries of whatever crop is coming in; and food cooperatives in which members share work and purchasing power.

Wendy Hammarstrom, a massage therapist and yoga instructor, writes about complementary health-care issues. Call her at 677-5962 or send e-mail to Innerworks1@aol.com.