Has anyone started a homebrew club with the idea of Community Sustained Brewing as their mission, using the same ideas behind Community Sustained Agriculture? Please read the CSA mission I found at http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml#define and let me know your opinions and if you think the tax “Man” would have a problem with this if the mission were converted to brewing purposes.
[quote]Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.
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I think you’d probably be fine as long as the “farmer” was a licensed brewery. The farmers in the CSA mission statement are still selling their produce to the participants. They just have a different, risk-sharing fee structure.
If the “farmer” wasn’t a licensed brewery then I think the Tax Man Cometh.
I read the artticle jrdunne linked. The CSA farm which we belong to in MA drops off at halfway houses in our city and utilizes the residents as workers to keep track so the local government is very aware of the CSA.
RE: tygo’s comment… I would also have to see of the head of the CSA and the board would be interested in getting a Farmers’ Brewing license which is allowable by law in MA.