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  View in browser   BY  LISA KASHINSKY Presented by UPS ‘FOOD OUGHT TO BE A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT’ —  Rep. Jim McGovern believes that ending hunger can be a political unifier in a partisan era. Even still, it took him months of organizing with anti-hunger groups and pushing for buy-in from the Biden administration to get to where we are today: the first  White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health   in more than five decades. The Biden administration has a plan to end hunger by 2030  through  executive actions and policies   that include expanding access to federal nutrition assistance programs, getting the FDA to roll out voluntary nutrition guidance and increasing the number of students who can get free school meals. Some of those policies would require action from Congress — where extending school meal programs is already a fight, and where Democrats could lose control of one or both chambers in the midterms, complicating the...

  View in browser   BY  LISA KASHINSKY COMPOUNDING INTERESTS —  Small businesses are worried about inflation, supply chain problems and hiring enough employees, according to a new survey. But even as they pledge to help, the gubernatorial candidates' plans only address those issues in broad strokes. Seventy-four percent of small businesses are worried about inflation  driving up their operating costs and 61 percent are worried about their wages keeping up with inflation, according to the new MassINC Polling Group, Coalition for an Equitable Economy and Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation  survey of 3,243 small businesses with under 500 employees,  conducted June 30 through Aug. 9. Some more stats:  60 percent of respondents were concerned about getting capital, and far more so for businesses owned by people of color. Fifty-four percent of small businesses cited difficulties finding qualified and reliable employees, 46 percent were worried abo...