Raw Food Cook Book Author, Mary Jane Humes
Mary Jane Gives Us the Raw Deal
By Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
A few months ago I had the opportunity to proofread upcoming “Super Raw Cook Book” by Mary Jane Humes and Rhonda Dunlap. It was an honor to recently interview Mary Jane via telephone for my personal blog. Mary Jane is awesome! We think alike in that while we both are big fans of raw food, we are not vegans. We bonded over our love for raw milk and raw eggs. She even tried a raw egg recipe I gave her which she speaks of in this interview. Enjoy this truly down-to-earth talk with an expert who is living it!
Mary Jane Humes is one of those lucky people who grew up in a healthy environment. She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. Her dad was a farmer and her mom was the type of person that had to have everything homemade. The health bible of their household was “Back to Eden” by Jethro Kloss. “Everybody’s who’s into healthy eating knows about it,” said Mary Jane.
And their family doctor was a chiropractor and a nutritionist who had his own health food store. She said, “In his waiting room, it was always packed. You’d always hear success stories. If people had a cold they’d go to this chiropractor. He did magical things.”
At a young age, Mary Jane was rebellious. “I wanted cupcakes, potato chips … that’s what my friends had,” she said. But that changed as she grew a little older.
“My mother had me when she was thirty-nine,” Mary Jane said. “When I got a little older, I realized my family was older. I wanted to keep them alive and well as long as I could. My mother used to get the catalogs from GNC. They were better way back then. I loved going through them. I begged her to order me Vitamin C when I was ten, twelve [years old].”
And to this day, Mary Jane’s mom is very well because of the years of taking care of herself. Mary Jane said, “When she was younger, she had a lot of stress. She told me she had bad acne. Back then the common thing, chocolate, caused acne. She was a very disciplined person. She’d make a bar of chocolate last a whole week. She had her vitamins. She’d take her vitamins every morning. She’d take unbleached flour … raw sugar. Very nutritionally minded … that’s how I grew up.”
Mary Jane took her mother’s healthy mindset with her throughout adulthood. It was always in the back of her mind. She went on to college and became a nurse, but the medical mindset just didn’t sit right with her. “I was so into natural ways of healing that I just felt to put drugs in people was not the right way. I’m not anti-drugs, but we are just far too dependent on drugs.”
With Mary Jane’s natural background she decided to start a raw food website two years ago: http://www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com/
“Food should be our first supplement, instead of living on junk food,” she said. “I learned so much about raw foods. I learned how to make green smoothies.”
Some of the positive benefits of raw foods, according to Mary Jane, were energy and weight loss. “I was never two hundred or three hundred pounds,” she said. “I’d say I lost thirty pounds. I hate scales. I go by the way my clothes feel.”
Mary Jane swears by her green smoothies. If she starts her morning with a green smoothie, she feels she can pass on candy, although she does allow herself to indulge. “That’s my little secret here,” she said.
But the raw food diet also comes with challenges. “Raw food is not convenient,” she said. “It’s easy to grab a burger and eat it. If I don’t have raw food prepared and ready, I’ll go for something out of a can. It’s prep work. Sometimes life gets in my way. I don’t want to make my own food.”
And traveling is tough too according to Mary Jane. “I’m not a diehard raw foodie,” she said. “If I’m traveling, I’m going to travel light as possible. I want to experience something I can’t get at home. Instead of a stupid t-shirt or mug, I want the food. That’s my souvenir.”
Unlike many raw foodists who are vegans, Mary Jane consumes dairy and eggs. “I’m weird that way,” she said. “Thanks to you, I’ve found great recipes with my eggs, with the raw orange juice.” And luckily for Mary Jane, raw milk is legal in Pennsylvania. She said, “I’m so blessed where I don’t have to sneak around to get it. I’ve always liked milk and thought milk was good for you until I realized the pasteurized was so bad.”
Because Mary Jane consumes raw dairy and raw eggs, she finds it easier to be a raw foodist and considers Carol Alt her favorite raw food guru. “She’s a non-vegan,” said Mary Jane. “That’s almost sacrilegious in the raw world.”
Mary Jane’s upcoming book, which she co-authored with Rhonda Dunlap, “Super Raw Cook Book” is a “work in progress” which she hopes to be published by Christmas in hard copy from Create Space on Amazon. Raw food author and advocate Paul Nison wrote the foreword.
Her future plans include marketing the book and spending more time on her website. Aside from Mary Jane’s raw journey her other interests include tending to her seven animals (three cats, two dogs and two bunnies) and being a Sunday school teacher.
Photo by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta 