Dewey Square farmers market has smaller turnout since the Occupy movement began, vendors say

Two times per week in Dewey Square, the Boston Public Market advertises “Special Bagged Apples” and “White Cape Cod Turnips” alongside Occupy Boston’s signs of “You Are the 99 percent.”

The Boston Public Market operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a few vendors who decided to extend their closing dates past Thanksgiving, and are now open until Dec. 22.

The market is a cluster of white tents, bustling with fresh produce and local farmers.

However, vendors said the Occupy movement, which calls the same patch of grass at Dewey Square its home, contributes to decreased customer turnout.

“There are lots of regulars, mostly people that work in the Financial District, or commuters that come by in the afternoon,” said Brian Petri, sales associate for Q’s Nuts. “But since the Occupy movement set up camp, people that don’t have to walk through Dewey Square have started going somewhere else.”

The sentiment about the Occupy Boston protesters in the farmers market is negative, vendors said.

Petri said he has been asked many times to donate nuts to demonstrators.

“There was one instance where a very intoxicated woman, who claimed to be from Occupy, was very adamant that I give her free food, but I refused,” Petri said.

Arthur Keown III, who manages Keown Orchards in Sutton and has been selling at Dewey Square for eight years, said he has had similar experiences with the protesters.

“They were asking for donations, but we’re a business just like any other,” he said. “We are happy to sell our products to them, but we don’t give them away.”

Vendors, however, continue to set up shop together each week in Dewey Square.

The produce is locally grown and therefore changes from season to season, unlike the fruits and vegetables in a typical grocery store.

“The changing seasons provide us a great reminder of what is actually grown in season – something that’s easy to lose contact with in a supermarket where many goods are shipped from other climates,” said Mimi Hall, operations manager of the Boston Public Market Association, in an email.

Farmers said that they are only beginning to harvest certain products.

“Right now is the time for root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots. We’re still pulling them out of the ground,” said Keown. “We planned ahead of time, though, so we have cabbage and broccoli that’s not even ready yet.”

Annalisa Piroli, a regular customer of Keown’s, said she has bought all of her produce at the market for a couple of years because it is better and lasts longer.

“Supermarkets pick everything green, refrigerate it for longer and lose the quality,” Piroli said. “But you can still find that quality here.”

The freshness and quality of farmers-market produce far exceeds produce in supermarkets, Hall said.

“We find ourselves very competitive when it comes to grocery stores,” Keown said.  “Even if theirs looks better, ours tastes a lot better.”

The winter season will change the types of produce available at local markets.

“Produce will be more limited and focused on seasonal items such as apples, winter squashes, carrots, potatoes, greens, turnips, radishes, salad greens and other crops that can be grown or stored over the winter,” said David Webber, program coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, in an email.

Both customers and vendors at Dewey Square said they are hoping that the new end-date is not cut short.

“If there’s a big snowstorm, we don’t have snow-removal plans, so we’ll cancel the farmers market the night before,” said Megan Gibbons, the market manager of Boston Public Market.

“If it’s a smashing success we would talk about extending it, but we’re really lucking out with the weather right now,” Gibbons said. “We’ve always wanted to do a winter market, and we’re thrilled that we’ve found that same enthusiasm in our customers.”