[This piece has been published in Restoring America to highlight how a food aid policy giving an advantage to U.S. vessels could increase costs for consumers].

Soaring food and energy prices are putting hundreds of millions of people’s lives at risk worldwide. It is thus especially disappointing, though perhaps not surprising, that the U.S. maritime sector is asking Congress to increase the share of food aid shipments that must be carried by U.S.-flagged vessels in this time of crisis.