Families in southern Louisiana, who for decades have been able to cast their lines outside their homes and bring in enough seafood for dinner each night, are being forced to shift to less healthy diets of fast food and "grind meats," according to the Associated Press.
The millions of gallons of oil spewing from the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig have rendered wide swaths of the Gulf of Mexico off limits to fishing. That means that the staple protein of southern Louisiana—seafood—is off the table.
Food pantries and BP payments are helping families keep their pantries stocked with staples like rice and beans. But many families in the region, who were already struggling with low incomes, cannot afford seafood from stores. Or they refuse to buy it because it isn't local.
So instead, families are "forced to pay for protein they used to get for free. And it's not the kind they want," as the AP puts it.
What are they turning to? Fast food. And to what one resident described derisively to the AP as "grind meats" (hamburgers and hot dogs).
Some residents are still able to find a bit of local seafood, and they share what they can with their neighbors. But for the most part, it's cheaper meats and food assistance. And the timing of the spill is only exacerbating the problem of food insecurity. The AP reports:
The spill occurred in what is always a challenging season. Children who get free or reduced meals at school suddenly have to be fed at home, and donations typically fall off during the summer.
According to Second Harvest, which provides food assistance in the region, there has been a 25 percent increase in the number of new clients signing up for food aid. Second Harvest has served more than 200,000 free meals in the area.
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