With a new facility, Marin Sun Farms has taken a leadership role in California’s locally raised movement.
The Bay area of California, including Marin and Sonoma Counties is known for its high-quality food. The wine, of course, is world-renowned, and the cheese is rapidly becoming the same. Could the same be said for its meat? The area is home to many grass-fed cattle ranches, as well as farmers who raise hogs, lambs, ducks and many other protein species. With the right infrastructure and a local foodie population that craves locally raised meats, those ranchers could develop some very profitable niche markets for themselves.
Take away that infrastructure, though, and the whole community suffers. The unexpected closing of the area’s one slaughterhouse in Petaluma last year left area farms with few alternatives to get their animals slaughtered and processed into fresh cuts. The facility was eventually acquired and reopened, thanks to an entrepreneurial company that had been pushing the “Think Local” movement before it was even a movement.