MILITARY STEPS IN TO BUY UP GULF SEAFOOD FOR THE TROOPS

One of the problems with keeping up on the problems of today is becoming, if not jaded, getting to the point where you run out of words. You just don’t know where to start because one just does not understand. That is all there is to it, it is beyond understanding. Now we have a situation where the military is feeding the troops fish from the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, let me see if I got this right. To clean up the Deepwater disaster, a major poison known as corexit was sprayed (and tubed deep under the surface) into the ocean with the goal of supposedly cleaning up the mess. This poison was used despite warnings from many countries where its use is banned. Those exposed to the poisons and locals have been getting sick and developing horrid symptoms ever since ~ particularly dirty illnesses. But I digress.

This poison helped to create huge clumps of oil, many of which sit on the ocean floor far from the surface.  Between the oil and corexit, marine life was almost wiped out. Birds and sea life are still dying in great numbers. People, who swam in the Gulf after being told it was safe, are developing terminal illnesses with no chance of full recuperation.

And they now want to feed the fish from this part of the world to American troops. You can bet the top brass will not be eating this stuff!

Sales of Gulf of Mexico seafood are getting a boost from the military after being hammered by last year's BP oil spill, which left consumers fearing that the water's bounty had been tainted.

With good reason!

Ten products, including fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and packaged Cajun dishes such as jambalaya and shrimp etouffee are being promoted at 72 base commissaries along the East Coast, said Milt Ackerman, president of Military Solutions Inc., which is supplying seafood to the businesses.

Primarily bottom feeders already among the most toxic of foods. Rather along the lines of Halliburton supplying the Iraq troops with dirty water from the Euphrates?

Gulf seafood sales fell sharply after a BP gulf well blew out in April, spewing millions of gallons of oil into the sea. Consumers have long feared that fish, oysters and other products could be tainted by oil and chemicals used to fight the spill, although extensive testing has indicated the food is safe. The perception has lingered ~ along with the poor sales.

Bobby Barnett, a shrimper in Pass Christian, Miss., said he was glad the U.S. government was embracing domestic and not imported seafood.

"Every sale helps us out, and we need some help to come back," Barnett said. "You would have thought they would have been buying U.S. seafood all along."

The Defense Department-run Defense Commissary Agency ~ known as DeCa           sells groceries to military personnel, reservists, retirees and their families at cost plus a 5 percent surcharge. The stores have emphasized healthy diets as part of first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" fitness and health campaign. 

Let us see Michelle and the kidlets chow down on a few meals of Gulf fish! 

Rather along the lines of when Halliburton was supplying the Iraq troops with dirty water from the Euphrates?

"What fits in with that better than seafood?" Ackerman said.

Despite the hoopla about safety, shrimpers have concerns. It only stands to reason that if the waters are still fouled, so would be the creatures that live and feed in it.

The gulf seafood promotion begins Tuesday at Belle Chasse Naval Air Station, La., where chefs from the military and New Orleans restaurants will prepare gulf delicacies. Some 20,000 people have commissary privileges at the air base just outside New Orleans. 
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According to the FDA, the dispersants (chemicals that cause the oil to disperse into the water rather than float on top of the water) used against the oil spill aren't a problem either, because they don't appear to accumulate in seafood.  This is the same FDA that rubber stamps anything Monsanto or Cargill want on the market, including aspartame.
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"We're doing dishes that the home cook can take home and cook easily," said Chef Tenney Flynn of GW Fins' French Quarter restaurant, who will prepare black drum with tomato sauce.

Commissary shoppers will be able to take home the recipes.

The commissaries deal was brokered by Ready 4 Takeoff, a group that has worked since Hurricane Katrina to help the Gulf Coast, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. Mabus was appointed by President Barack Obama in June to oversee the Gulf's recovery from BP's massive oil spill, which began in April.

DeCa spokesman Kevin Robinson said the agency viewed promoting Gulf seafood as an opportunity to expand its focus on domestic seafood and broaden choices for commissary shopper