We grow our berries right here in rural Massachusetts - in what locals call "Happy Valley". Our fields produce the only significant amount of schizandra berries in the United States and, more than likely, the only verifiable, certified-organic schizandra berry in the world.

Our vineyard's carbon footprint is very small. We do most of our work with hand tools and 'sweat-of-the-brow' labor. Dr. Chang has been in this mode for 25 years, applying farming methods at a time when it had not yet acquired the name 'sustainable agriculture'.

The term 'superfruit' has skyrocketed in recent years. It feels like every day there's a 'discovery' of another 'super-nutritional' fruit sourced in some remote area of the world. Marketers are fond of blending many of these together into 'super-cocktails'. Yet it's worth taking a closer look at this practice to see what U.S. consumers are supporting when they buy these products.

While we certainly applaud the practice of supporting small farmers world-wide, we also strongly feel the need to support small farmers in our country. Without this support, most of the small farms and specialty growers in the U.S. will disappear within the next two decades.

There are those that feel Dr. Chang has literally and figuratively transplanted the ancient Chi to America. People can sense this when walking through his fields - there's a subtle vitality few other plants seem to emit. This energy (some would call it 'chi', some would call it 'consciousness') comes in part from the care Dr. Chang has put into his work and these plants. This care translates itself into the vines, and into the goods made from its berries.

Contrast this care and attention with to the 'tonnage mindset' of huge corporate conglomerates or government agencies supplying many of the herbs you may now be using. A closer look reveals it to be much like the vast corporate farms in our own country, cranking out the goods on overworked land.

To a growing number of people everywhere, vitality is much more than turning up the flame on our individual burners. It embraces every aspect of what we are buying and supporting with our 'food dollar votes'. 'Vitality' is a word that is both individual and collective. What each of us does affects a long chain of events and people.

ChiBerry™ is a firm step in the right direction. It is a wonderfully energetic beverage - the result of so many people's best intentions.

From the first people in ancient Manchuria who had the courage to try these little red berries, to the hundreds of generations of Asian herbalists who began to unlock it's medicinal treasure chest, to the Asian, Russian and Eastern European scientists who verified what the herbalist saw and then expanded on this to meet modern health needs, to Dr. Chang who planted a vineyard in Whately, Massachusetts, starting yet another chapter in its remarkable journey.

So while we are definitely a Homegrown Vitality company, we are also the result of many people's contributions over the centuries.

We encourage you to remember this aspect when you drink ChiBerry™ because you are the next link in the chain. You are someone who can help change the way others think and what they support, while at the same time helping yourself attain a renewed level of health and vitality everyone deserves.

May the Chi be with you!