Friday 4 the Foodies: Save Our Shore and More – How You Can Help Louisiana

On June 14th, Nola.com published an article titled Gov. Bobby Jindal calls on BP to finance $457 million seafood safety program.  The main part of the article was:

The seafood safety plan calls for BP to make available $457 million to implement a 20-year initiative to safeguard the industry and repair damage that has already started to seriously erode consumer confidence in seafood harvested in local waters.

The plan would include the “implementation of a science-based seafood safety testing program with transparent metrics of safety and quality” and “a certification program for quality and processing of certified Louisiana seafood,” according to the letter. Also, it would include a “successful short-term and sustained long-term consumer information campaign designed to reassert the Louisiana brand.”

Here are a few stories and links from the Louisiana Restaurant Association website regarding how the oil spill has affected it’s members.

June 21, 2010 – The Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board has set up a fund to help those fishermen experiencing economic hardship from the BP oil spill–Friends of the Fishermen. To donate, click here.

June 15, 2010 – BP has announced that it has approved initial payments toward 90 percent of commercial large loss claims that have been filed as a result of financial losses of the Deepwater Horizon incident and spill.

June 14, 2010 – New Orleans-area chefs and LRA members get creative as the seafood supply changes course. Read the article.

We all need to help those in need in some way.  Just think about how much food gets consumed during Jazzfest & what would happen if there was nothing there for any of us to eat when we got there. This is a disaster of epic proportions and we all need to find it in our hearts (and pockets) to help those who serve the people of Louisiana and the tourists who come to enjoy all of the amazing local cuisine!