Most expensive groceries in the country...

[randomq]

One way plane tickets are cheap, and we hand out free food apparently, so... Much better if we have well employed people and reasonably priced groceries for them to purchase.

[ironyak]

randomq - Do our shipments really have to go to California, then to Honolulu, then to us?
I doubt the Jones Act is going away anytime soon with the trend lines pointing to a breakdown in the post-WWII arrangements and moving to a multipolar global order - see Canadian PM Mark Carney's recent speech for a clear-eyed articulation of this issue. (with the sharp decline in Canadians coming to Hawai'i, have to go gather insights from them wherever possible). And as the US steps back from providing global stability and safe international shipping routes, do we really want Hawaii's dependence on importing 90% of our food being handled by foreign countries that the administration treats as an enemy (aka all of them)?

And finally and most importantly, spaghetti and meatball pizza ends up like lasagna, it's great, and I was baking when I came up with it. :-)
After you mentioned it I went looking and it does appear to be a thing out there. Not clear to me how the crust would be able to cook, but guess will have to give it go when feeling more "creatively inspired"...

[HiloJulie]

Interestingly enough, it is not just the high cost of groceries, which of course is a big issue, but it is a weak economic performance that is even a bigger issue:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/02/03...cwLADLemjw

A poignant snip:

Steven Bond-Smith, lead author of the report, said the state is increasingly losing working families while attracting newcomers who can afford to move.
“We’re losing hardworking Hawaii families and getting people who are coming here basically for the lifestyle,” Bond-Smith said.

[TomK]

One way plane tickets are cheap, and we hand out free food apparently, so...  Much better if we have well employed people and reasonably priced groceries for them to purchase.

That is such a reasonable opinion that it'll never work here. I think Hawaii is stuck relying on tourism, which generates low-wage jobs but keeps people employed, so that looks good, but it won't commit to attracting well-educated, qualified people, especially the outer islands, because it risks votes.