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“We’ve reached 500,000 signatures,” smiles Eileen Mitro, Ukiah coordinator for the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act initiative.

The California ballot initiative, which needs 504,760 valid signatures to qualify for the November 2012 election seeks to require food sold in retail outlets to be labeled if it contains genetically engineered ingredients.

“When we go to a grocery store, we buy something and see a listing of ingredients on a label. Consumers have the right to transparency in labeling,” Mitro explains. The initiative would not cover the labeling of meat, pet food, beverages or restaurants. It would also prohibit genetically engineered foods to be labeled as “natural.”

“It’s a start,” says Mitro.

Mendocino County residents are not unfamiliar with the fight to limit GMOs from the food supply. The county was the first in the nation to ban the cultivation, production or distribution of genetically modified organisms through the passage of Measure H in 2004. The measure did not address the labeling of food products, which is what Mitro and initiative supporters hope to bring before voters.