For over a decade, Half Hill Farm has been defined by a singular purpose: to share nature’s sacred gifts encoded over eons in fully mature mushrooms. That mission was born in a personal family struggle — an origin story that defined who we are and who we serve.
Over time, your stories started to sound like ours, and we continue to be blessed with your hand written letters, phone calls, and emails that reaffirm our purpose.
Recently, we completed an exhaustive month long internal GMP compliance audit in preparation for facility certification. GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practices (defined in federal FDA regulations), something we always did but didn't document in the formal way required for certification and annual inspections.
Our goal with the internal audit was simple: ensure our website meets the highest FDA labeling standards for dietary supplements. We were not prepared for what we found or the corrective action required to fix it.
The Hardest Day
During this process, we were faced with a painful realization: many of the powerful stories that kept us going for 10 years, your stories and our own origin story, were non-compliant with federal regulations. Under FDA 21 CFR 101.93, first-hand accounts of near miraculous outcomes, links to studies that infer why, and several customer reviews that appeared to confirm outcomes could be interpreted as violating federal law.
It was disheartening, but I completely understood how regulations ultimately protect consumers from otherwise unscrupulous manufacturers focused more on their bottom line. So, I got to work.
- Nearly 80 posts - deleted.
- Over a decade of reviews - deleted or redacted.
- Over 100 product pages re-written.
But one of the hardest was reviewing our own powerful origin story whose title I cannot even repeat. With the help of a GMP consultant, we understood that even accounts of our own story could trigger the FDA to show up with armed agents from the Department of Justice to shut us down.
It was a real and serious possibility.
I'll be honest. As my finger hovered over the delete button to remove our own origin story, I cried. I thought of all the long calls with customers, your letters that I have to this day, and most of all, my family.
After thinking about a decade of shared stories, I realized something in that moment. None of that goes away. Even though it's a story worth sharing, it will always live inside everything we do. The only difference is that our integrity and purpose will now stand in its place guarding this sacred time and space, hopefully for decades to come.
Changes You Can Expect To See
If you browse our blog posts, product descriptions, or customer reviews today, you will notice:
- Less Reviews: We proactively removed over ten years of powerful stories to ensure every word on our site respects FDA guidelines for dietary supplements. Reviews made before a certain date could not be edited and had to be deleted.
- [REDACTED] Reviews: Reviews that could be edited were redacted. Where a customer shared a thoughtful and powerful first hand account in a review but mentioned a specific medical condition, we have used [CONDITION REDACTED]. Those redactions now serve as testaments to hidden stories and unspoken prayers answered.
- Health claims removed: Product descriptions are now more of the familiar compliant language you find on much larger websites.
- Decade of Articles and Links: Along with a decade of blog posts, close to 80 links to promising studies are now gone.
How You Can Help Us Build the Future
We believe in the power of fully mature mushrooms and the eons of their untapped biological resilience. We also believe in our origin story and who we serve. We trust that transparency and adherence to regulation will protect our longevity and help us keep building a brand that lasts.
- Share your experience with our company and products in reviews. We may have to redact portions along the way, but your message will be heard loud and clear.
- Share your journey with others. We have no say in what you share with others on your own social media. Your powerful stories have value and purpose.
We will never be able to fully thank all of you who share a decade of knowledge and experience reflected in our own origin story. But we hope you will always see that story continue to be honored with integrity and purpose in everything we do.
