what the fork is Meat Me In The Middle?

Meat Me In The Middle (MMITM) had its beginnings in 2024, when South Orange resident Jennie Aylward imagined that her interest in the food-environment connection could turn into a community project to fight climate change. A whole team of South Orange and Maplewood community members embraced that idea, volunteering their expertise in research, marketing, advocacy, community engagement, technology, and more.

Our goal is ambitious: With MMITM’s evidence-based support and encouragement, we aim for people to reduce the amount of meat they eat, given animal agriculture’s large contribution to global warming. But most members of the MMITM team are NOT vegetarians, and our spirit is non-judgmental. We don’t want to take away anyone’s choices!

On top of that, we’re a bunch of foodies who believe that eating should be a source of joy, so we take a playful approach. Yes, climate change is a huge forking problem, but we offer a palatable solution, and doesn’t a little food wordplay make it easier to swallow?

We view reduced meat consumption as a starting point for people to increasingly pursue 1) satisfying plant-forward diets, with benefits for environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and human health, and 2) other actions that benefit the environment. Collectively, our individual choices can help protect what we love in SOMA and beyond.

As our founder envisioned, MMITM embodies a community focus, bringing people together for events like “Veggie Vebruary”, online cooking demonstrations, and a SOMA-wide Restaurant Week. We proudly work with local elected officials, business owners and managers, and institutions like the South Orange Environmental Commission, the Maplewood Environmental Advisory Committee, the two towns’ Health Department, and the Environmental Studies Program at Seton Hall University.

MMITM is fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) organization, Ecologistics, Inc. (EIN 27-2116150), meaning that our work is classified as nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible. MMITM is staffed entirely by volunteers. We are grateful for financial support from foundations, individuals, businesses, and the Village of South Orange via the South Orange Environmental Commission.

Want to seize the mighty power of the fork, and help us achieve our mission? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, contact us to volunteer, join us for Restaurant Week, consider a donation to support our work (see links in footer), and eat less meat! Thank you, SOMA. We forking love you.

Related: Read about what MMITM accomplished in our first year