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About 300 people turned out Saturday at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in downtown Eugene for a rally aimed at building support for a statewide ballot measure that would require labeling of genetically modified foods in Oregon, both raw and packaged, at the point of purchase.

Supporters of the measure have until July 3 to gather nearly 90,000 valid voter signatures to qualify the measure for the November general election ballot.

The campaign is spearheaded by a group called Oregon Right to Know.

A measure passed earlier this month in Jackson County by a wide margin that bans growing GMO crops in that county.

A similar measure passed in Josephine County, but it will not go into effect without a court challenge because the state Legislature passed a bill in 2013 to prohibit local governments from passing GMO bans.

Jackson County’s measure already had qualified for the ballot before the Legislature’s action, so it will go into effect.

Rather than banning the growth of GMO crops, Oregon Right to Know’s statewide ballot measure would require that labels on foods and food ingredients indicate whether they contain genetically modified organisms.

Factory packaging would have to be labeled, “produced with genetic engineering” or “partially produced with genetic engineering.” In the case of raw foods, store shelves would have to carry the label.