A front-page story on Nov. 13, "More hands held out, but less food to give away," provides a useful update to the old story of food insecurity in Hawai'i. Many thousands of people in Hawai'i still don't know where their next meal will come from.

Private agencies in Hawai'i such as the Hawai'i Foodbank, Aloha Harvest, the Institute for Human Services, the Salvation Army, Waikiki Health Center, River of Life Mission, Kau Kau Wagon, The Advertiser's annual Christmas fund, and many church pantries do what they can to respond to the problem, but they are stretched to their limits. The problem persists and grows. The charitable organizations in Hawai'i cannot keep up with the unmet needs.

The federal government does its share. More than $300 million comes into the state each year for federally funded nutrition programs such as food stamps, school meals, and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, commonly known as WIC.

Where is the state government in all this? The state government does administer programs such as food stamps and WIC, but it is the federal government, not the state, that pays for them. Despite their limited resources, the charitable programs that hand out food do a good job of tiding people over, but they cannot solve the problem.

Some might point to the state's efforts to create and strengthen employment in tourism, technology and construction, and suggest that higher employment levels in these industries will help the poor and the hungry. However, their benefits stay mainly in Hawai'i's middle class, and do not trickle down to the most needy. In many cases, outsiders come into the state to take up the opportunities in these industries.

Hunger and food insecurity are not simply results of unemployment. Many of the victims are working. Many have two or three jobs. They suffer not from unemployment but from underemployment: They don't get a living wage.

The state government has never sponsored a serious study of poverty in the Islands. A few years ago, a letter to the Advertiser editor suggested this might be "because the state doesn't want to admit there is a problem, especially one like hungry Hawaiians that might offend tourists. After all tourists spend money, poor locals can't." (Letters, Nov. 19, 2001).

The recent story in The Advertiser said, "The state Department of Health no longer includes food-security questions in its annual health survey." Why? Maybe it's not just a matter of protecting Hawai'i's image. If a state agency does a definitive study of a problem, the state then becomes obligated to do something about it. Maybe that is why some take the attitude that the state should not even look at issues such as hunger and poverty.

Given its resources and its capacities, we should expect more from the government in Hawai'i. We should expect more given the bright image that the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau projects about the state being a tourist paradise. We need to acknowledge this darker side of paradise if we are ever going to do anything to fix it.

What needs to be done? The federal programs and the charitable agencies are doing wonderful work, but they are not solving the hunger problem. There is more to be done than finding food for needy people's next meal.

The challenge is not to feed people but to see to it that they live in conditions in which they can provide for themselves. Paradoxically, you don't solve the hunger problem by feeding people. Dignity comes from providing for yourself and your family, not from standing in a soup-kitchen line. The task is to design a Hawai'i in which all able-bodied people are able to take care of themselves. Regardless of whether we draw on federal resources or charitable giving or local farmer's markets, the state government should take the responsibility to assure that no one in the state goes hungry.

In 2002 and early 2003, there was a burst of optimism that the state might at last be ready to face the issue of hunger in Hawai'i. With prodding from interested citizens, the Legislature asked the Office of Planning in the state's Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to convene a Food Security Task Force, to examine the best ways to ensure food security for Hawai'i's people. As a result of that task force's work, in 2003 the Legislature considered bills to create a permanent state Food Security Council.

The idea was simple: The council would envision a Hawai'i without hunger, and then try to figure out how to get there. The council would bring together all concerned parties to formulate a coherent strategy for addressing the problem of food insecurity in the Islands. That work would launch the beginning of the end of hunger in Hawai'i. However, the Legislature did not approve the proposal.

The need continues and grows. If we can't end hunger in Hawai'i, what hope is there for solving the problem anywhere else? If we address the issue, maybe we could provide a good model for people who struggle with these problems elsewhere.

George Kent is a professor of political science at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.