Inside the modern meatpacking plant (photos)

Pasture-rasied, grass fed beef hang from a hook in Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Meat hangs in a cold room at Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

A hand-cut top round hangs from a hook in Marin Sun Farms new 18,000-square-foot, hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Expert butchers cut pasture-raised, grass-fed beef at Marin Sun Farms new 18,000-square-foot, hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Hand-cut slabs of pasture-raised, grass-fed beef lay on a table at Marin Sun Farms new 18,000-square-foot, hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

David Evans, a fifth-generation California rancher, has opened 18,000-square-foot, hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco. Marin Sun Farms hopes to create a wave of change over the traditional meat business by giving small producers who focus on humane handling and sustainable agriculture access to a larger-scale processing infrastructure and a bigger market share. "These aren't butchers," Evans said. "They're artists."

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Meat hangs in a cold room at Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Hand-cut meats lie in a cold room at Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Full pig carcasses hang in a cold room at Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet

Chunks of pasture-raised, grass-fed beef sit in cold room at Marin Sun Farms' new hand-cut specialty meat processing plant in San Francisco.

Related story:  Where’s the (grass-fed) beef? Expanding ‘locavore’ products

Photo: David Cuetter for SmartPlanet