5Serving is an initiative with a goal of creating healthy Communities.
The following are the main objectives:
- Helping people to eat healthy
- Helping farmers to grow as per people’s need
- Helping consumers and farmers to come closer
The information below is split into following 3 main areas:
- Demand – Helping people eat healthy by adopting 5 Serving concept
- Supply – Helping Farmers understand the demand of consumers and grow accordingly using organic farming
- Organize – Helping Consumers purchase directly from Farmers by arranging markets
Demand Generation
Start having 5 servings of vegetables and fruits every day and experience the change in your health
One Serving = A cup containing 80 grams of vegetables and fruits
5 Serving is all about eating well. Everyone these days are health conscious and are aware of the benefits of having vegetables and fruits regularly.
Well! Awareness is one aspect but practicing is another important aspect and that is where the problem lies.
Benefits of having vegetables and fruits can only be seen when discipline is maintained.
5 Serving concept helps people maintain that discipline and achieve the benefits
About 5 Serving
World Health Organization (WHO) and Experts recommend a daily intake of least 400 g of fruits and vegetables split into 5 servings
The below helps you to plan and maintain a good discipline for consuming Vegetables and Fruits (v&f).
People struggle to maintain discipline because of the following reasons:
- Not sure how much to buy
- Not sure how much to consume
- Not sure about nutrition requirements
- Not sure where to buy
- Whether organic or normal
- etc
So let us try to address the reasons
How much v&f to consume:
We know the Recommended daily intake = 400gm per person
We split 400gm into 5 Servings which is 80gm/serving
Each serving equals to 80grams
(approx. 1 cup)
A cup containing 80 grams of vegetables and fruits
How much to buy every week?
A family of 4 should buy 4 X 400 gm X 7 days = around 12kgs per week
So a family of 4 needs to purchase
6kg Vegetables and 6 kg Fruits every Week
Consumption Planning
When to eat, how much to eat and what to eat?
Typical 5 Servings can be
| Sample Schedule | |
| 7.30am | Banana and Papaya before breakfast |
| 8am | Slices of Carrot and Cucumber along with breakfast |
| 11.30am | Any other fruit |
| 1pm | Green leaves and slices of Carrot and Cucumber in lunch |
| 6.30pm | Sprouts |
| 8pm | Green leaves and slices of Carrot and Cucumber in dinner |
To develop a good discipline:
- Make a list of vegetables and plan for the week
- Have 5 bowls of vegetables and fruits prepared early morning and keep on dining table ready to consume.
- And maintain a calendar to indicate the right time to consume.
This helps encourage everyone at home including children to consume the right quantity of v&f at right time.
Based on the disciplined consumption plan we can arrive at the demand as shown in the below needs chart. This will be the input to the farmers to plan the cultivation and harvesting.
Supply
We are basically a group of farmers who grow Vegetables and Fruits by adopting Organic and Natural farming practices.
Having understood the consumers needs, we start cultivation and harvest when ready.
Knowing the demand helps farmer grow without the fear of selling.
Organize
We help farmers sell their produce directly to consumers avoiding the middlemen.
We organize Sunday Markets in various communities and invite farmers to participate and sell their produce directly to consumers.
Please participate in this initiative and help us save our mother earth!