Reference

'Healthy Highways: The Traveler's Guide to Healthy Eating'

Ceres Press, $19.95:

"Healthy Highways" offers alternatives to the fast-food eateries crowding the American landscape. Designed with motorists, bikers and hikers in mind, it features more than 2,800 natural-food stores, co-ops and health-conscious restaurants from Alabama to Wyoming. Each entry is brief - there is no fat here - with just the essentials: address, telephone number, hours of operation and a concise description of the type of listings (whether natural-food store or vegan restaurant) with the kind of services the establishment offers (alcohol, baked goods, deli, juices, organic produce, salad bar). It includes driving directions and maps.

Authors Nikki and David Goldbeck list six "healthy" rules of the road to remember, including choosing different ethnic foods whenever possible, ordering vegetarian (even if you are not one) and avoiding unnecessary fats. The Goldbecks have done a great public service for health-conscious travelers everywhere.