Today at the farmers’ market, we were approached by a woman saying she was “from ABC” and wanted to ask us a few questions about the market. Thinking this was an opportunity to give some props to an institution I really like, I consented, only to find myself in front of a camera 50 seconds (and and whirlwind waiver-signing) later. Blinking back my surprise, I awkwardly answered some questions about organic food and “GMOs”. I remember talking vaguely about wanting to buy from smaller producers as opposed to giant farms, and deflecting prodding questions about GMO technology by saying I wasn’t really up on the science. I wouldn’t say it was ALWAYS a bad thing to manipulate DNA for specific traits in plants. There’s a nuanced argument, here, for sure, but am I going to present this in what I thought was a 5-second fluff piece? Nah.

During the whole process, the man asking the questions stood off camera and jabbed this microphone in my face (as if trying to jam it into my mouth). Red flags were flying in my head. I finished the “interview” by telling them I’d come to buy some end-of-season peaches and first-of-the-season apples. Yawn.

I scrambled off, regretting that my time in Los Angeles has made me so open to talking to strangers.

Before I could disappear back into the crowd of welcoming hippies, hipsters, and yuppie parents, the producer stopped me and told me they were from Jimmy Kimmel Live. My heart dropped when I remembered the waiver I’d stupidly put my name on when I thought I was going to sing the praises of the friendly local nectarine sellers to the TV news audience in Pasadena.

She went on to tell me that they couldn’t use any of my interview. They were going around farmers’ markets, trying to get some numbskull armchair food-activists to spout some ignorance about FRANKENFOOD. But since, when asked what GMOs were, I’d replied “genetically modified organisms,” I was useless to them. She said.

My goodness, I hope so. I hope this doesn’t get chopped up and manipulated and I wind up being some asshole on the Internet.

Cause this was what I was wearing.

I’m supposed to stay out of the sun, ok?