No, not the unsolicited email, the salty canned meat.
Click image for larger version. 

Name:	spam-classic.jpg 
Views:	4188 
Size:	20.2 KB 
ID:	72
You'd think that with all the fresh fish available on the Islands, they'd eschew something as unhealthful and processed as Spam.

Well, it turns out that the Islands' love affair started with the GIs stationed on Oahu in WWII. Back then the Hormel Corp. was shipping 15 million cans a week of this horrid concoction to Allied soldiers. It was probably an ideal war time foodstuff as it did not spoil and could be eaten without any cooking. Even today, Hawaiians gobble up about seven million cans of SPAM yearly, which translates to about six cans per year per inhabitant. Still, none of this explains the lasting impact of an outsider foodstuff to a culture that was raised on seafood and Island grown starches like taro root and poi.
Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Poi.jpg 
Views:	2337 
Size:	81.3 KB 
ID:	73
What are they looking for in this salty canned meat? I suppose the rest of the world may never know, but even President Obama, born and raised in Hawaii, ordered spam musabi, a sort of spam marinated sushi, when he visited the Islands in 2009.

Hawaiians claim that when cooked properly, SPAM tastes wonderful, and quite unlike it does straight out of the can. As well, there is no social stigma to SPAM in Hawaii, both rich and poor alike eat it unlike on the Mainland where SPAM is reserved for more or less po' folk.

Whatever the reason, Hawaiians continue to gobble this stuff up, which is fine with me, as long as they leave all the best fresh fish intact at the Supermarkets, for the rest of us non-SPAM aficionados to enjoy.