Fishing Families Turn To Fast Food, Donated Groceries
Second Harvest Food Bank Helps Spill Victims
POSTED: 8:53 am CDT July 19, 2010
UPDATED: 8:56 am CDT July 19, 2010
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Comments (1)POINTE A LA HACHE, La. -- For thousands who count on the Gulf of Mexico to feed their families, what once seemed like a never-ending, free buffet of shrimp, crabs, oysters and fish is off-limits.

Even though BP PLC has at least temporarily stopped the oil leak that had been fouling the Gulf for nearly three months, more than a third of the Gulf from Texas to Florida remains closed.

It's not that people are starving. With compensation checks from BP and the help of charities such as Second Harvest Food Bank, they're able to stock their pantries with staples -- rice and beans, grits and cereal, peanut butter and jelly.

Trey Williams, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, said nearly 2,000 people in five parishes have applied for assistance since May 3. Enrollment in other programs also has jumped.