Toxic Soup: Paul Prudhomme and Other New Orleans Chefs Check Out Oil Spill Firsthand

"Toxic Soup" is a Change.org series focusing on how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts the Gulf's seafood industry and marine life. For more posts on this issue, see here, here, here, and here.

There are many sights one expects to see floating in the Gulf of Mexico right now—oil slicks, belly-up fish, sea birds covered in sludge. But I have to say that even in my weirdest conjurings, I never pictured world-famous Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme bobbing along with all that death and destruction.

Prudhomme took to the Barataria Bay this week along with a group of New Orleans chefs and restauranteurs like Duke LoCicero, Dickie Brennan, and Tommy Cvitanovich. The foodies organized the flotilla to draw attention to the spill's coastal impacts and to observe firsthand how seafood is faring.

The Louisiana crew was especially interested in how oysters, a shellfish used heavily in many New Orleans restaurants, were doing. Thousands of acres of oyster beds are currently closed because of the spill. Like most bivalves, oysters have the ability to cleanse toxins from their flesh—so long as the oil doesn't kill them off entirely. At this point, many oyster beds remain closed because of contamination fears, and it's too early to tell whether the precious shellfish will be able to pull through this mess.

Losing oysters—even temporarily—hits New Orleans' foodies right where it hurts: their stomachs and their wallets. Chefs like Prudhomme boast local, Gulf oysters on their menus, so tourists and local diners come in seeking the shellfish. Plus, because the oyster is such a hyper-local item, it's a food staple for the surrounding community. Being so close to the bay, Louisiana residents typically pay far less for oysters than folks in other parts of the country. Down there the oyster po' boy is as common as a burger and fries. Losing the oyster in the long-term would deal a serious cultural blow to the community.

BP rep Randy Prescott reportedly claimed that "Louisiana isn't the only place that has shrimp." And he's right. It's not the only place that has crabs, or fish, or oysters, either. But in Louisiana and other Gulf states, losing all of these things means losing a significant part of folks' food staples, and a big part of their culture, too. Prudhomme drove this point home when he talked to the New York Times about local oysters. "I think I can speak for everybody—we all love it," he told the NYT. "Not to have it, or to see it destroyed, just would be a tragedy. I've been in Louisiana all my life, and my family's been here since 1760. And we've always lived off the land—farmers and fishermen. It's just sad to see what could happen here."

Photo credit: holga_new_orleans/Brett Rosenbach via Wikimedia Commons