Potatoes are expensive to ship out here evidently. (rot fast in the heat too) Yams will grow here but not spuds. (and I couldn't remember what we paid for the bag of spuds, prob guessed high, but usually they are about $1/lb when sold loose). Locally grown tubers are something we haven't figured out yet.
If you really want to eat cheap, head to Hamura's Siamin shop for a huge bowl of noodles/wonton/mystery meat(spam)and a couple of chicken skewers for about $6-7 bucks. Cough up another $1.5 for big slice of Lilikoi pie...
We even have a TV news spot called Cheap Eats where two hugely fat newscasters show you where to chow down for cheap (but on Oahu). No fast food but pretty high calorie stuff usually. We have a terrible obesity problem and high rate of diabetes in these islands. Esp. among the Hawaiian population that seem to love pretty unhealthy eats and have a cultural thing in favor of being obese.
The chicken was actually $7.50. Safeway had a 2/1 sale but no doubt it's a factory farmed bird. If you want local meat here it' usually pork with some grass fed beef (not that great quality either) also available. Mostly, we get container loads of frozen meat from the mainland. But the fish is fresh!
