If you follow the non-GMO movement at all, you may have heard that California is primed to be the first state to require labeling on any food containing GMO ingredients. After collecting 971,126 signatures (nearly double the amount required to be placed on the ballot), Californians can look forward to voting for the proposal on November 6.

But how did California gain such strong a strong non-GMO following in the first place? Pamm Larry, a former midwife and farmer, initiated the California Right to Know Campaign—the leading force behind the labeling proposal—through her group Label GMOs. Given the lobbying power of corporations who develop and sell biotech crops, the proposal had to be grassroots. “It was clear to me that we weren’t going to get anything through the agencies or the legislative bodies. It had to come from the people,” Larry said in an interview with Organic Connections.

While Larry estimates the biotech industry will spend anywhere from $40 million to $100 million to battle the initiative, she remains optimistic about the vote in November. “[Our] actions will be very targeted, very specific, and it will be the truth.”

Read more in Organic Connections.