Celebrate Goatober

Goatober is just what you might guess – it’s a celebration of the goat, in particular goat meat, in the month of October.

The goal of the month-long international celebration is to encourage restaurants to put goat on the menu, or have people cook goat at home. In 2011 Goatober started in New York and has now grown around the globe to include events in London, Melbourne, Amsterdam, and Trinidad and Tobago. ​

Goatober began as an effort to extend the lives of male dairy goats and to put a delicious, ethical meat on the menu. The celebration brings together goat farmers, non-profits, chefs and others who are passionate about ending food waste in dairy goat farming.

Goatober aka No Goat Left Behind was the brainchild of former Heritage Radio Network Executive Director Erin Fairbanks and renowned New York cheesemonger Anne Saxelby. They launched the initiative together with Heritage Foods to address the growing problem facing New England goat dairy farms: what to do with male goats? Male offspring create a dilemma for dairy farmers — they obviously don’t produce cheese, and unfortunately, there is no well-established humanely sourced market for American goat meat. From this senseless waste Goatober was created and with it a month-long celebration of putting goat meat on the menu of New York’s best restaurants.

There are now over 100 restaurants involved in Goatober from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Celebrate at home by cooking your own goat dishes. Take a look through our online recipe library for inspiration.