FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)
United States and territories
In the United States, Spam is quite popular, but is sometimes associated with economic hardship, due to its relatively low cost.[11]
The residents of the state of Hawaii and the territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) consume the most Spam per capita in the United States. On average, each person on Guam consumes 16 tins of Spam each year and the numbers at least equal this in the CNMI. Guam, Hawaii, and Saipan, the CNMI's principal island, have the only McDonald's restaurants that feature Spam on the menu. Burger King, in Hawaii, began serving Spam in 2007 on its menu to compete with the local McDonald's chains.[12][13]
In Hawaii, Spam is so popular it is sometimes dubbed "The Hawaiian Steak".[14] It is traditionally reheated (cooked), resulting in a different taste from Spam eaten by many Americans on the mainland, who may eat Spam cold.[15] One popular Spam dish in Hawaii is Spam musubi, in which cooked Spam is combined with rice and nori seaweed and classified as onigiri.[16]
Spam was introduced into the aforementioned areas, in addition to other islands in the Pacific such as Okinawa and the Philippine Islands, during the U.S. military occupation in World War II. Since fresh meat was difficult to get to the soldiers on the front, World War II saw the largest use of Spam. GIs started eating Spam for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Some soldiers referred to Spam as "ham that didn't pass its physical" and "meatloaf without basic training".)[17] Surpluses of Spam from the soldiers' supplies made their way into native diets. Consequently, Spam is a unique part of the history and effects of U.S. influence in the Pacific.[18]
The perception of Spam in Hawaii is very different from that on the mainland. Despite the large number of mainlanders who eat Spam, and the various recipes that have been made from it, Spam, along with most canned food, is often stigmatized on the mainland as "poor people food". In Hawaii, similar canned meat products such as Treet are referred to as "poor people Spam".
Four different types of Spam. Clockwise from top left: Garlic, Oven Roasted Turkey, Hot and Spicy, and the Japanese released version (Spam Less Sodium) of Spam.In these locales, varieties of Spam unavailable in other markets are sold. These include Honey Spam, Spam with Bacon, and Hot and Spicy Spam.[18]
In the CNMI, lawyers from Hormel have threatened legal action against the local press for running articles decrying the ill-effects of high Spam consumption on the health of the local population.[19][20]
Austin, Minnesota has a restaurant with a menu devoted exclusively to Spam, called "Johnny's SPAMarama Menu".[21]
![[smilie=gt-happyup.gif]](./images/smilies/gt-happyup.gif "gt-happyup"){kind=small}
![[smilie=superkewl.gif]](./images/smilies/superkewl.gif "superkewl"){kind=small}