The islands of Hawaii lie in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as the most distant land mass from any other land mass. Until Polynesian people began to colonize the islands several thousand years ago the ecosystem of the islands was virtually isolated from the rest of the world. With the inclusion of the islands as the 50th State in the United States and the advent of inexpensive airfare, the tourism industry in Hawaii has exploded to a multi-billion dollar enterprise requiring more food importation and production for the islands.
Hawaii stands over 2,500 miles away from the rest of the United States across the Pacific Ocean. Any food that cannot be locally grown on the islands is usually imported from the mainland US via cargo ship. Though there are plenty of foods that come across from the Western side of the Pacific as well since the Hawaiian population has a large percentage of Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos. So the Hawaiian Islands import food from Asia as well as America due to the eclectic population and food of the state. Food is preserved on the ships with refrigeration and/or picked unripe to allow it to ripen in transit. Highly perishable food is imported to the islands via air freight, but this drastically increases the price of already expensive food.
Hawaii's main exports of food have been pineapples and sugar with huge plantations covering millions of acres over the islands in the last two centuries. However in the second half of the twentieth century producers of sugar and pineapple in Asia and Africa began to undersell the Hawaiian manufacturers so the vast plantations have dwindled to a mere handful. Tropical fruits are still exported, but in small percentages compared to foreign sources. Most food exported from Hawaii travels by ship, with only the most perishable and delicate food traveling via air at a high cost to the end consumer.
As of 2008 the Hawaiian government estimated that the islands only had a seven day supply of food available so that if new shipments of food were not able to arrive the markets would run out in a week. Because of this citizens and government groups are working to encourage farming and gardening of foodstuffs that can offset the importation of food. One example is that two thirds of the beef cattle raised on the Big Island are shipped off to the mainland to be fattened on grain and slaughtered before being shipped back to the islands. Having grass fed beef slaughtered locally will greatly impact the local food supply cost and sustainability.
Hawaii boasts many open air markets where locals and tourists can buy fresh, tropical fruit. This promotes the local, sustainable farming efforts that will benefit Hawaiian food security as well as keeping money in the local economy and requiring fewer imports to feed the residents of the islands. Open air markets get their food from farms around the islands that are typically small, family run institutions. Most farmers will pick their fruit and load it in a truck to drive it to the open air market.
