What Stem4Free Defines as a Serving

Last Updated July 27, 2021.

Stem4Free measures all of its donations in terms of the number of servings that are donated instead of measuring in terms of the number of meals that are being donated. This decision was made due to the fact that we felt as though we would be lying if we said we were donating full meals, for the simple fact that not all of our donations include the proper nutrients that should be included in a meal. However, in order to be as transparent as possible on what we count as servings, I wanted to write this blog to explain a little bit more in-depth about what exactly counts as a serving. Stem4Free’s definition of servings comes directly from eatforhealth.gov.au (https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes) and follows the following guidelines:

Vegetables

• ½ cup of cooked vegetables
• ½ cup of cooked, dried, or canned beans
• 1 cup of raw salad vegetables
• ½ of a medium potato or starchy vegetable
• 1 medium tomato

Fruit

• 1 piece of medium fruit
• 2 pieces of small fruit
• 30 g of dried fruit

Grain

• 1 slice of bread
• ½ medium roll or flat bread
• ½ cup of cooked rice, pasta, noodles, quinoa, and other grain bases
• ½ cup of cooked porridge
• ⅔ cup of wheat cereal
• 1 small muffin, scone, or other pastry

Meat

• 65 g of lean red meat
• 80 g of cooked lean poultry
• 100 g of cooked fish fillet or one small can of fish
• 2 large eggs

Legumes/Beans

• 1 cup of cooked or canned legumes/beans

Tofu

• 170 g of tofu

Nuts and Seeds

• 30 g of nuts and/or seeds

Dairy and Alternatives

• 1 cup of milk
• ½ cup of evaporated milk
• 2 slices of cheese
• ¾ cup of yogurt
• 1 cup of soy, rice, almond, or other types of alternatives to milk or dairy products

Additionally, based on an internal analysis, it was revealed that the majority of Stem4Free's donations, coming from its 122 partners as of July 2021, were products such as sandwiches, breads, poultries, and pastries. Consequently, taking an average of the values of our most common donations, Stem4Free has decided to value each of their servings at $5.00 or roughly $4.00 per pound.

Sources:

1. https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes