Key Norms of the US that are sustainable and those that are not
The United States as a country has various norms of its culture, some of which are sustainable while others are not. These norms play a very crucial role in governing the members of the society. Some sustainable norms or values of the US culture include grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, decentralization, feminism and gender equality, and future focus and sustainability. On the other hand, unsustainable values of the current US culture include the culture of environmentalism and sustainability (Gouveia, 2002).
Grassroots democracy as a value of the US current culture entitles all human beings to be given the chance to make their own decisions as far as their lives are concerned and that none of them is supposed to be subject to the will of another. Moreover, the value of social justice and equal opportunity entitles all citizens of the country to equal benefit from the resources offered by the society and at large, the environment. It further seeks to confront issues such as discrimination on the basis of gender, sexuality, race among others. On the other hand, decentralization seeks to reduce the effects of centralization by restructuring economic, social, and political bodies to a less bureaucratic system. The norm of future focus and sustainability aims to encourage focus on policies motivated by long-term goals to protect resources rather than short-term goals and outcomes (“*The Green Party of the United States,” 2016).
The US food system as an ideal reflector of the ethical standards of the US
The current US food system reflects the ideal ethical standards. The US food system prioritizes the well-being of its residents, makes high-quality food available to all at amazingly affordable prices. In addition, the current food system of the US promotes to a flourishing economy where every individual is entitled to fair compensation, in addition, to treatment. The food system has promoted to a fortified agricultural as well as environmental stewardship throughout the region. Moreover, it has promoted to the good health of its individuals (Zimdahl & Holtzer, 2016).
The Attributes of the US Food System that can be applied to reduce global hunger
The current US food system is demand driven. Looking at this food system, the demand patterns of products can be predicted to reasonably speculate the demand patterns on the global market over the next 10 or so years. Knowledge of the demand patterns in the global food system would increase preparedness, a situation which would reduce cases of hunger globally (Choffnes et al., 2012).
The US food system is geared towards providing cheap and relatively inexpensive foodstuffs to its citizens even though in the recent past, obesity and other diet-related health problems have been on the rise (“American Public Health Society,” 2007). In order to curb global hunger, the creation of a global food system that is geared towards providing quality and healthy food at affordable prices should be carried out. This would enable the food to be available to every individual since most of them would be able to afford it. This would, therefore, result in a decrease in global hunger.
Moreover, the US food system has a lot of policies at its disposal (Lang, Barling & Caraher, 2009). These policies test whether they can deliver healthy and sustainable food. Employment of policies in the global food system can help curb global hunger. This is because the legislation would prevent the misuse of food so that each and every individual has access to it.
In conclusion, the US food system despite being blamed for the escalating cases of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, in my view has some attributes which can be applied in a global food system to increase the accessibility of food to individuals and reduce global hunger.
