The real truth behind food in hawaii vs the mainland, believe it or not, we ship to them..... (Honolulu: buy, live in)

[Phanos9999]

I had to clear this up in reading some of the guys posts about food/meat in hawaii. Some people here have it confused that we get the same meat as the mainland does... This is not correct. Actually, the big island generates about 70%of all the islands meat that we in hawaii consume. And a good portion of the cows raised on the big island is shipped to the mainland to feed lots as calfs. Not very high in shipping cost because calfs are so small.
Some of the processed meat comes back here, but most of it is consumed on the islands. Believe me, you will see the difference when you cook your hamburger and steaks here. They cook different and taste a bit different. Some posters on here believe that we eat the same stuff as the mainland. This is false The bulk of all hawaii's meat comes from the big island, and a good number of calfs get sent to the mainland to finish growing and get processed. Why? Because the west coast of the mainland does not have the land for large amounts of cows to grow and multiply. The big island does....

Hawaii Grass-fed Beef

And even other islands raise cattle as well

Kauai Beef

To ship the amount of corn it would take to feed the cows that the mainland produces would be too high in cost (one poster did correctly say that). Cows eat about 90% of the time they are alive, so you are talking about shipping tons and tons of corn. Most of that terrible corn is made in the midwest of the mainland (I know that because in michigan we grow ALOT of corn). So you would have to drive to the westcost of the mainland, load up the corn, and then ship to hawaii???? lol, yeah right And to ship grown cows or tons of beef from the mainland to here would be too costly to keep the meat fresh. Either buy keeping it cool or keeping live cows clean, either would be a mess

And here is some info that is on this very site
https://www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...o-Economy.html

I will say this to people asking questions on here. Some of the true answers you are looking for you will have to ask yourself once you get here. Don't believe everything on here posted, keep in mind these are people's thoughts and feelings that may not always be backed by fact. Don't look foolish to locals repeating things you read here like I did, lol. Many people on here are a treasure trove of information, others not as much. Do you own reading as well and ask questions once you get here. People are very open here to tell you about what island you are on and the other islands
I asked a group of guys that were visiting Oahu from the Big Island stuff like do we get meat from the mainland and eat the same meat as the mainland and they looked at me in a very puzzled way, lol. They wanted to know where I was getting my information from, and does that person live in hawaii.....


Food for thought.

[Phanos9999]

And as far as pork and chicken, that is grown 75% to 80% on the islands. When you guys get here, you will be amazed at all the wild chickens running around, lol. But when you buy a whole chicken here it will be greatly reduced in size. Due to the chickens here not being pumped with all the those different chemicals. And it will taste different......

[PacificFlights]

I have to clarify what you are saying. Its true that 75% of the beef on the Big Island is consumed in Hawaii, but that represents only about 25% of all the beef consumed on Hawaii. The majority 75% of all th beef consumed on Hawaii is imported from the mainland, Phillipines, Australia, Mexico or Argintina. (with mainland and australia being the bulk)

[hotzcatz]

Yup, if it's Big Island Beef, it will be branded differently than mainland beef. Usually they will mention "grass fed" on it. There is still a LOT of beef, pork and chicken brought in from the mainland, though.

The meat processors here will process beef and lamb, there's some for pork, too, but I don't know if any on this island will process chickens. Somebody somewhere should do it, though. Most of the folks I know who eat local pork and chicken process it themselves.

I'll ask the guy I get fleeces from where his lamb is processed. It almost all goes to the restaurants, though, and very little of it gets sold in the grocery stores.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by PacificFlights

I have to clarify what you are saying. Its true that 75% of the beef on the Big Island is consumed in Hawaii, but that represents only about 25% of all the beef consumed on Hawaii. The majority 75% of all th beef consumed on Hawaii is imported from the mainland, Phillipines, Australia, Mexico or Argintina. (with mainland and australia being the bulk)

Phanos I know you are somewhat new to Hawaii - but as PacificFlights mentioned - you are way - way - way off. Pacific is being generous that 25% of beef consumed in Hawaii is locally raised - many statistics put it at closer to 10%. Whether it is 10% or 25%, it isn't anywhere close to your stats.

Hint - there aren't enough cows locally to feed us in Hawaii. The math doesn't work.

"I asked a group of guys that were visiting Oahu from the Big Island stuff like do we get meat from the mainland and eat the same meat as the mainland and they looked at me in a very puzzled way, lol." I think they were puzzled that you even asked the question - of course, by far - most of our meat is imported.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm also wondering about FRUIT.

Chinatown-Honolulu is filled with fruit everywhere, I'd imagine that those are probably coming through Asia? Just a guess...seems like it would be easier.

So many pesticides and chemicals used on the Mainland, I'd certainly like to hope they are coming from somewhere else anyways...(thinking of oranges, apples, etc. not the exotic fruits).

[kcarmike]

Follow-up question: Compared to the imported meats (particularly beef) what are the prices of the local meats? Is the Hawaiian beef more expensive than the imported because it is grass-fed? Mainland beef costs much more when it is a grass-fed cow, even though cows are supposed to eat grass. Prefer the local products anyway when I have the choice.

[Flame Angel]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Phanos I know you are somewhat new to Hawaii - but as PacificFlights mentioned - you are way - way - way off. Pacific is being generous that 25% of beef consumed in Hawaii is locally raised - many statistics put it at closer to 10%. Whether it is 10% or 25%, it isn't anywhere close to your stats.

Hint - there aren't enough cows locally to feed us in Hawaii. The math doesn't work.

"I asked a group of guys that were visiting Oahu from the Big Island stuff like do we get meat from the mainland and eat the same meat as the mainland and they looked at me in a very puzzled way, lol." I think they were puzzled that you even asked the question - of course, by far - most of our meat is imported.

I thought all meat came from Costco!!

[Gunluvver2]

So far I have not been able to visit your fine state. I live in Nebraska and I love my beef. When I make it to your islands I probably won't be ordering beef but seafood. That is something that is difficult to find here in Nebraska. I am anxious to compare our Walleye and Blue Gill (a small panfish) to some of the more exotic fish you have to offer.

GL2

[Dthraco]

Originally Posted by kcarmike

Follow-up question: Compared to the imported meats (particularly beef) what are the prices of the local meats? Is the Hawaiian beef more expensive than the imported because it is grass-fed? Mainland beef costs much more when it is a grass-fed cow, even though cows are supposed to eat grass. Prefer the local products anyway when I have the choice.

Safeway Hamburger (90%) is $5.99 / lb. 'Times' ground chuck is $3.99 / lb. I don't know which is local and which is not, but the ground chuck tastes way better.