Marin has grown into a locavore center, where shoppers and diners have a strong interest in locally grown and organic foods.

That “farm to fork” support has been invigorating for agriculture, an economic engine important to the county and one that helps keep West Marin open and strong enough to fend off suburban growth.

As that economy has grown, so have questions about the county’s ban on the slaughtering of domestic animals that are raised for food. County officials are taking a new look at that position, put into place in 2003, after complaints rightfully surfaced about mobile slaughtering operations.

A ban on the slaughtering of large animals within the county should remain. Mobile processors have no place here. But county supervisors may revisit the outright ban on small-scale, sustainable, humane harvesting of poultry for commercial sales.

There is a demand for locally grown meat. It is being sold in Marin’s organic farmers’ markets, and one domestic animal producer lists 150 mostly Bay Area restaurants that include meats raised here that had to be processed outside the county.

Common sense should limit poultry processing to farms and ranches that are a reasonable distance from residential areas. There also should be caps on the size of commercial operations.

The decision to change the policy must weigh the potential environmental and greenhouse gas impacts of operations versus the carbon footprint created to truck animals out of the county.

Any zoning changes necessary to allow even small-scale commercial operations should come with strict rules requiring compliance with policies for buffers from neighboring properties, with a cap on the number of businesses allowed.

Certainly, Marin is home to active animal-rights groups and advocates who object to slaughtering — anywhere. But a ban in Marin doesn’t mean those animals are not going to be killed for food, as tough as that is for many of us to swallow.

It means that local commercial meat producers have to drive their animals out of Marin — which undermines some of the tenets of sustainability.

Partly changing the code, with reasonable rules, is a way to help family farms and ranches remain sustainable.