State Government Should Be Doing Its Part By Buying Local The state is the single-largest purchaser of food in Hawaii. How it directs its dollars has a huge impact.
By now, Hawaii has woken up to the truth of just how vulnerable it is when it comes to food. In addition to the mass disruption brought by the pandemic, in the last 12 months the islands have had hurricane alerts and tsunami watches.
All have served to spotlight the huge risk that Hawaii takes daily by relying on outside ships and planes to deliver 80% to 90% of its food.
Given this ever-increasing awareness, what’s changed? A state of Hawaii website calls on residents to “Buy Hawaii, Give Aloha.” The exhortation seems more than a bit ironic given that the state’s own practices of buying local are underwhelming at best.
