You know things are really bad when more people with jobs can't afford to cover their most basic need: food.

But increasingly, that appears to be the case. As Advertiser writer Mary Vorsino reported recently, local pantries and food banks are seeing more and more people coming to them as grocery prices continue to climb.

At the same time, the number of people using food stamps is starting to rise, even as welfare rolls decline — a warning that until the economy improves, closer attention must be paid to maintaining Hawai'i's social safety net.

There are no easy answers to the food inflation problem; much of the blame has been laid on soaring energy costs, which raise the price of just about everything.

But people have to eat. A combination of grass-roots activism and focused public policy is needed to help those who need it most.

In the past five months, the state's largest supplier of pantries, the Hawaii Foodbank, depleted about half its inventory as demand soared. What's worse, donations to the Foodbank from large commercial suppliers have slowed, in some cases by double-digit percentages from last year.

Local farmers can't afford to grow more than they can sell, and shippers who bring in 90 percent of Hawai'i's food supply pass on the rising cost of fuel to large food suppliers.

That means more of the slack will need to be taken up by individuals and smaller businesses. Donating more frequently and generously, organizing neighborhood food drives or just helping someone in need are simple, effective ways to help take pressure off private food banks.

Those who think they qualify for food stamps (actually an electronic card) should apply. The state Department of Human Services has worked hard to promote the program, which is one reason more people are using it; certainly there's no shame in signing up.

Policymakers should consider ways to provide lower-income folks with tax credits for food purchases. Also, making it easier for local farmers to prosper — through policies that help protect their long-term investment in agriculture — can also make fresh food more plentiful.

It's up to all of us — from those who drop off cans of food at the church pantry to those who control our social services policies — to make sure every resident of Hawai'i, no matter how poor, can afford to eat.