Trump administration hopelessly out of touch with furloughed federal workers’ struggles

As the government shutdown enters its 35th day and 800,000 federal employees continue to go without paychecks, our nation’s leaders continue to say very dumb things: Commerce Secretary and self-proclaimed billionaire Wilbur Ross says he doesn’t understand why furloughed workers would need help from food banks when they could just get loans instead. Meanwhile, Donald Trump thinks people can just talk their local grocery stores into giving them free food, which is almost as good as that time he thought you needed I.D. to buy groceries.

And in other news...

• Necco Sweethearts may be absent from the Valentine’s Day candy fray this year, but Krispy Kreme is stepping in to fill the void with conversation heart doughnuts. [Food & Wine]

• Meanwhile in Japan, a sushi restaurant will serve chocolate-fed fish for Valentine’s Day. Precisely what effect, if any, such a diet has on the fish’s flavor is unclear, but it does make the flesh more vibrantly colored. [SoraNews24]

• Tokyo is reducing subway congestion by convincing commuters to travel at off-peak times with free soba and tempura. [Quartz]

• Taco Bell is now selling shredded cheese in grocery stores, in case you ever wanted ranch-flavored cheese(?). [Bustle]

• A new report commissioned by Starbucks outlines some additional changes the company needs to make in the wake of last year’s racist arrest incident — including more employee training and changing the way it reports in-store incidents. [Restaurant Business]

• Oprah’s former chef Art Smith dishes on what it’s like to cook for Michelle Obama on her book tour. [People]

• Finally, here’s a supercut of every time Gordon Ramsay dropped an F-bomb during his appearance on Hot Ones, First We Feast’s YouTube series where celebrities are interviewed while eating insanely spicy food: