Most of us are really trying to do the right thing when it comes to our health. We try to cover the basics: making good choices for our families, eating the healthiest foods we know, getting some exercise, avoiding cigarettes and excessive alcohol consumption.

But there are still a lot of things out of our control - including the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the methods under which our food is grown.

Maybe you've heard that California has a landmark measure on the ballot next month called Prop 37. It would require food labels on raw or processed food to state if the food is made from plants or animals that were raised with GMOs (genetically modified organisms). It will also prohibit the use of the word "natural" on any packaging.

It's as simple as that.

We already have labels that state how many servings, calories, fat grams and sugars a food includes, plus an ingredients list so that we know what makes up the food we're eating. Including GMO information on the labels would give us extra information as consumers to make an informed choice. Whether or not we will choose a certain food based on the label is not at the heart of the discussion.

It's about having the freedom to make the choice. We may not be able to control how foods are grown, but we certainly have the right to know. Seeing the information on the label is the most consumer-friendly way to be able to make an informed decision about the foods we buy.

What happens in California does matter for the rest of us, because national food manufacturers will label food for the US market depending on those requirements. (Here's an illustration of what it might look like, as dreamt up by Mark Bittman writing for the NYTimes). Let's hope that they can pass the ballot measure that will lead to all of us having the right to know about what's in our food.