That’s on purpose. We’re building the circle first, then the standard, then the shelf.
How Shasta works
The governance, the ownership structure, the product standard, the numbers. All of it, published. Not because we’re required to — because a company that won’t show you how it works is telling you something.
01The model
Most companies build a product and bolt a community onto it. We built the circle first. It’s slower, and it means an empty shop for a while. We think that’s the correct trade.
Thirty-three people, chosen for alignment rather than similarity. A company built on trust has a different operating system from day one.
Before anything is sold, the circle agrees what qualifies. Useful, honest, well made, human, and backed by people who’d use it themselves.
Members bring what they make, or what they’ve found and vouch for. Nothing arrives through a sales pitch.
Identity, sourcing, completeness, evidence, claims. Some things pass. Some don’t. The ones that don’t are why the mark means anything.
A third of the company is held for the community. Makers get distribution. Members get a standard they helped set.
02The Standard
Shasta Verified means we investigated.
The species is what the label says. The sourcing is what the supplier claims. The ingredient list is complete. The evidence behind each ingredient is stated at its actual strength.
It is not a claim that a product works. It is not a health claim. It’s a claim about provenance and honesty — the two things we can actually verify.
The four tiers
Every ingredient in every Shasta product is placed in one of four tiers. The tier appears on the product page, next to the ingredient, at the same size as the ingredient name.
Not in a footnote. Not on hover. A standard that’s technically disclosed but visually buried is marketing, not honesty.
Strong peer-reviewed research supporting this specific use
Early studies exist. More research needed
Centuries of documented use. Limited or no clinical study
Theoretically sound. Not yet tested
Most of what’s sold in this category sits in the bottom two tiers. That’s not a reason to avoid it — people have used these plants for a very long time and the traditions are real. It’s a reason to say so plainly instead of implying otherwise.
What we investigate
Is the species what the label says? Verified independently where the claim matters.
Where does it come from, who grew or made it, and does the supplier’s account hold up?
Is everything in the product on the label, including carriers, preservatives, and processing aids?
What does the research actually support, and what does tradition support instead?
Does the marketing match the evidence tier, or exceed it?
Certification is reviewed annually and can be revoked at any time for misrepresentation, a formulation change without notice, or a supplier change without disclosure. The first one we publish will do more for this mark than the first hundred approvals.
What we don’t do
We don’t certify our own products under this mark. A company grading its own homework isn’t a standard. Shasta’s own products stand on their disclosure, held to the same requirements.
03The 33 · Who reviews
Products are assessed by a panel that includes at least one member with relevant technical background, and at least one independent reviewer who holds no membership, no equity, and no commercial relationship with Shasta.
A member who proposed a product does not sit on the panel for that product. Panelists are paid a flat fee per review regardless of outcome — never on approvals.
When the circle is complete, every product under the Shasta Verified mark will have been reviewed by people whose names you can read and whose work you can see. Some members will show everything. Some will be a number and nothing else. Both are the point — the seat is public, the person chooses.
33 seats
This section fills as the circle forms. Numbers are drawn by lot at the first gathering. Nobody is first.
The circle convenes when the thirty-third seat is filled.
A standard you can check, held by people you can find.
04The Charter
Last amended: [date] · Download PDF
This is the governing document. It sets what Shasta is for, what it will and won’t do, how decisions get made, and what happens when the founder’s control ends.
It’s published because governance nobody can read isn’t governance. If we ever act against it, you’ll be able to point at the paragraph.
Below is a plain-language summary of each part. The full adopted text is linked above, and where the two differ, the full text wins.
Shasta exists to uplift the people in it, and to help people find their way back to nature, real plants, real education and real community. Kindness is the standard every decision is held to: toward members, toward the makers on the shelf, and toward the land the plants come from. The community builds the company, not the other way around. Products come out of the circle, never the reverse.
We will publish our numbers every year, including the embarrassing ones. We will publish every product we certify, deny or revoke, with reasons. We will keep member information for running the community and nothing else.
We won’t sell equity through membership. We won’t certify our own products under the Shasta Verified mark. We won’t take payment for an approval. We won’t quietly remove a revocation. We won’t sell or share the member list, or use member information to train outside AI without a separate, explicit yes. These are limits nobody can vote away.
For now, the founder is primary steward and carries day-to-day decisions. The Council, once formed, carries core governance. Decisions that belong to the whole circle need a two-thirds vote. Each member starts with one governance unit and can earn up to three through contribution. Units carry a voice, never a financial right. Removing a member takes a two-thirds vote, written reasons and a real chance to answer first. Anyone can raise anything directly with the independent Steward, without going through us. Shasta runs in seven-year cycles: [what happens at the end of each cycle].
A third of Shasta is reserved for the community as a whole, not for any member individually. It is held as unissued reserve today and moves into a perpetual purpose trust once the business reaches [the revenue threshold]. Nobody owns a piece, nobody can sell it, and nobody takes it with them. It is used on need: an interest-free loan, a grant, a contract, covering someone’s participation. It is never used according to what anyone paid, and it is never a return.
Founder stewardship is temporary by design. It ends [when: a date, the end of the first seven-year cycle, or a trigger such as a revenue threshold or a Circle vote]. At that point, [which powers transfer, and to whom: the Council, the Circle or the Steward]. [What the founder keeps afterward, if anything.] No one can extend founder control without [the required vote].