Seasonal greetings
M-Power Cheat Sheet
M-Power is a way for SRN members and sustainability enthusiasts to engage with colleagues
around sustainability topics. M-Power is designed to be quick and easy to engage with,
involving simple and direct actions to undertake as a group. Use this Cheat Sheet to table the
“Seasonal greetings” theme with your department.
'Seasonal Greetings' is a campaign designed to raise
awareness of sustainable, local and seasonal food. This
campaign was developed from research done by GSE844
students to engage Macquarie University staff and
students in eating more seasonal and local foods.
THINK LOCAL AND SEASONAL
‘Local food’ refers to the distance between food

producers and consumers (i.e. food grown or raised
within X kilometres of a consumer)
For this campaign, the accepted geographical scale

of ‘local’ is a 500km radius of the Sydney CBD
‘Seasonal food’ refers to the times of year where a
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food is naturally at its peak, in terms of taste and
harvest. Seasonal foods are generally associated with
locally produced foods.
BENEFITS OF LOCAL AND SEASONAL
The benefits of local food can be summarised into
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four categories: taste, health, environment and
community.
Locally produced, seasonal foods are generally
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less expensive, more flavoursome and nutrient rich as
they are harvested at their natural peak.
Local producers are also more likely to reinvest
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their profits back into the community, further
strengthening the local economy and providing added
food security.

‘Money for Jam’ is an example of a local food and
FIND OUT MORE
Macquarie University Sustainability
T: +61 (2) 9850 1003
sustainability@mq.edu.au
mq.edu.au/sustainability
CRICOS Provider No 00002J
farmer rescue project Macquarie University was
involved in. Find out more at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embed
ded&v=cq_k1Dm8lo4
GET INVOLVED
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Grow something edible!
Know what’s in season - Sydney Seasonal Food
Guide
Buy seasonal food – many can be sourced right
here on campus at through the Locavores store,
or the Saturday market at the Sports & Aquatic
Centre
Support farmers markets - look up a market near
you via localharvest.org.au
Cook at home
Get a local produce bag. We have two Harvest
Hub pick up points on campus.
Dry, preserve and pickle
Have a pot-luck! Why not have a locally sourced,
seasonal pot-luck as a staff lunch one day?

We would love to hear about your seasonal
culinary efforts and experiences. Share your story and
send
in
your
photographs
to
sustainability@mq.edu.au. Or get social with
#seasonalgreetings:
o Instagram: @mqsustain
o Facebook: Macquarie Sustainability
o Twitter: MQsustain