For What it’s Worth, Milk a Goat (2012)
In order to achieve one of his life goals, Zaak has to “Own goats and milk them for what they are worth.” He doesn’t particularly like animals, but he has a mild fascination and respect for them. He finds himself in Guatemala with the perfect opportunity to make this goal a reality. And he could use the milk for his two young children. With two goats and their kids now parked in his back yard, he has to learn how to care for them and start milking them for what they are worth. Caring for goats presents many surprises and challenges from building equipment to avoiding strangulation and battling parasites. As time wears on, Zaak discovers that keeping goats is just as enriching as the milk they produce, if not more so.
Zaak recalls growing up on a homestead in Canada where his father kept goats as he himself faces some of the same challenges that his father did. For What it’s Worth, Milk a Goat presents a romantic view of agrarian life in the highlands of Central America. The film also journeys to a goat farm and cheesery in New Brunswick where old French recipes are used to create exquisite cheeses.
In a world drifting further away from participatory food production, relying instead on large corporations to feed us, this film asks “What do we lose by giving up our responsibility to produce food?”