>Why would you be interested in dried fruit?

because it 1) tastes good, 2) is portable.

> Isn't it natural to stick to
>fresh ones when they're around and to omit them from the diet altogether
>when they are not supposed to be around?

it could be argued that use of a computer is 'unnatural' but i see we're
doing that, so....

>Dried fruits are very much
>different from fresh ones, aren't they?

well, yeah, they're *dry*, and sort of darker, and wrinkled up.  aside from
having less water content, the nutrition is the same.

>To crown it all, they are often
>dried artificially.

throw yours in the clothes dryer, huh?  the end product is the same whether
one dries the fruit in the sun on screens, in the oven, in an electric
dehydrator.  by 'artificially', maybe you mean they add preservatives like
sulfur dioxide, this is true, but there are lots of sources of organic,
preservative-free fruit out there.

JoAnn.