“Healthy Highways: The Travelers’ Guide to Healthy Eating” Guidebook Review

At first glance, I was expecting Healthy Highways: The Travelers’ Guide to Healthy Eating to be a list of roadside diners offering more than chicken-fried everything with a side of French fries.  Upon reading the listings of my home city of Minneapolis, I quickly realized this is a great restaurant guidebook for veggie-loving diners of any age.

Authors Nikki and David Goldbeck were at the forefront of the natural foods movement in the 1970s and 80s with their books The Supermarket Handbook and American Wholefoods Cuisine, and now Healthy Highways spotlights organic and vegetarian restaurant options with more than 2800 listings in all 50 states.

The authors don’t stop there.  To make eating well on the road (or in your home city) as easy as possible, they include local directions, a unique feature that helps travelers anticipate upcoming locations and plan stops without worrying about getting lost.  The Goldbecks add that, “ Not only does Healthy Highways help people eat better on the road, it also gives them an opportunity to see parts of the country that often whiz by.”

The symbols are very easy to follow, but I was disappointed that there was no way to tell if a place had kid-friendly menu choices.  However, if your family is accustomed to eating not just healthy, but vegetarian and organic foods, even while traveling, this book can help you bypass the fast food joints and point you in the right direction for sure.

Focusing on Minneapolis, I can say that they are spot on when it comes to finding the best healthy restaurant choices.  There were even a few that I love and had forgotten about!  For example, I ate at Café Organica every day while a student at the Aveda Institute, but had not considered returning just for the food.  I will be heading back for lunch soon!  And Ecopolitan is hands-down my favorite raw-foods restaurant.  The cashew ‘cheese’ log is divine!  I was also impressed that small towns are included.

Overall, I really enjoyed this comprehensive guide and found it very helpful for finding healthy options in a huge variety of cities and small towns.  I will be keeping it in my glove compartment (and travel bag) and recommend your family to do the same.

Healthy Highways is available in bookstores and natural food stores everywhere or directly for $19.95, plus $4.95 s/h and NY sales tax from Ceres Press, P.O. Box 87, Woodstock, NY  12498. Or visit HealthyHighways.com for online discounts.