Photographers kicked out of farmers’ market

At least two people have been kicked out of the Saturday Farmers’ Market this season for taking photos – and one of them, a local lawyer, later received a letter from the market president telling him he’s banned for life.

The letter states that lawyer John Dunn isn’t even allowed on the parking lot of the farmers’ market on a Saturday anymore – and if he sets foot there, city police will be called.

“It’ s a lifetime banishment ,” Dunn said. “It’s beyond ludicrous.”

Dunn said he was taking photos of stalls at the market one Saturday in May because he’s concerned resellers are dominating – even though the market promotes itself on its website as a place to buy locally-growth food.

He said he knows two local growers who applied to sell at the market and were rejected recently, while two resellers were allowed to expand into extra stalls.

There’s been tension lately at the market between local farmers and resellers - those who buy food, often at the Toronto Food Terminal, and re-sell it, sometimes without clear labelling for the shopper.

But when Dunn went to take his photos, he said the vendor made it clear he wasn’t welcome to take any pictures of his daughters, who were at the stall.

Dunn said another vendor – a woman – walked briskly up to him to ask him to stop taking photos. He put out a hand, he said, to keep her at bay.

When he didn’t leave the market grounds, he said, city police were called to ask him to leave. He said he left and wasn’t charged.

Dunn has a written statement from another vendor to back up his claims, which he shared with The Examiner. The Examiner has not verified the claims in the document.

A few days later, Dunn received a letter from the Peterborough and District Farmers’ Market Association (PDFMA), signed by board president Cindy Hope, telling him he could never return.

The letter states that the PDFMA received complaints that he was photographing vendors and their children without consent, and that he didn’t stop when asked.

It also states that they received a complaint that he assaulted a vendor, and that police were called.

“The PDFMA will not tolerate such behaviour,” the letter states, and goes on to say that the PDFMA prohibits Dunn from even setting foot on the property during the farmers’ market again.

“Consider this prohibition to be a trespass notice against you that will remain in force every Saturday henceforth during market hours,” it states.

“Please be advised that this trespass notice will be strictly enforced with the assistance of the Peterborough Police and that the PDFMA will not hesitate to press charges against you should you violate the terms of the present notice.”

Dunn said he hasn’t returned to the market since.

Board president Cindy Hope, the only person who signed the letter, was not available for comment.

The Examiner also tried to interview Mark Jones, a board member; Hope wrote in an email that he deals with marketing and media. He would not comment either, by deadline Friday.

Meanwhile, video footage was posted this week to the website Vimeo showing a videographer being asked to leave the Saturday Farmers’ Market on Aug. 4 by two security guards.

The videographer – who identifies himself on Vimeo simply as Daryl Mc – is taking footage of the stalls and the food when he’s approached by two security guards who tell him he’s breaking the law and must leave or else they will call police.

The exchange between the videographer and the security guards gets heated. Daryl Mc insists there is no law against taking video in public, but he is told there is a law against it – and he’ll have to leave or else police will be called.

Eventually, the videographer leaves of his own accord. He couldn’t be reached for comment by The Examiner.

Dunn said the videographer is correct – there is no law against taking video or photos in public.

“This was an all-out assault on picture-taking,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dunn said resellers are dominating the market. He finds it egregious, he said, because the website and vendors’ handbook mention more than once that the market is meant as a place for buying locally grown food.

The mission statement, in the vendors’ handbook, puts it this way: “The Peterborough and District Farmers’ Market is a nonprofit organization of vendors wishing to sell their homegrown and locally produced products and produce to the local public.”

Dunn says it’s galling that when he questioned whether this is true, he was kicked off the market grounds for life.

“They’re bold beyond belief.”