Food

Sugar is hidden in products you wouldn’t think about like salad dressings and fruit juice and can lead to major health concerns such as diabetes and even cancer.

The idea of incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet can seem impossible when the world is filled with cookies, cakes and other items loaded with butter and sugar.

Turkey Confidential is The Splendid Table’s annual Thanksgiving show. Francis Lam comes to the rescue of Thanksgiving cooks, kitchen helpers, and dinner guests during the biggest cooking day of the year.

Lee Health's Teaching Kitchen recently earned national recognition when it was accepted into the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative.

As the current Government Shutdown becomes the longest in US history, some federal programs have been caught in the crosshairs. SNAP was left without funding.

President Donald Trump's administration is demanding that states reverse full SNAP benefits issued under recent court orders. The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, affecting 42 million Americans who rely on the program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's demand follows warnings from over two dozen states about potential "catastrophic operational disruptions" if they aren't reimbursed for benefits authorized before the stay. Nonprofits and Democratic attorneys general had sued to maintain the program, winning favorable rulings last week. Wisconsin, for example, loaded benefits for 700,000 residents but now faces financial strain.

A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The ruling Thursday was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit. The Trump administration said last month that it would not pay benefits at all for November because of the federal shutdown. Last week, two judges ordered the government to pay at least partial benefits using an emergency fund. It initially said it would cover half, but it now says it will cover 65%.

The county and Collier Community Foundation stepped in for dedicated bus rides to a far-away grocer after one grocery in Immokalee closed.

Folks in Immokalee who depended on the community's only supermarket, Winn Dixie, are frustrated and concerned. The store closed about a week ago as part of Aldi's acquisition of Southeastern Grocers.

President Donald Trump caused some confusion earlier Tuesday when he appeared to threaten SNAP benefits unless Democrats voted to reopen the government — despite court orders mandating that the administration keep the nation's largest food program running. Press secretary Karoline Levitt said the administration continues to pay out SNAP funding using contingency funding, which is what two separate judges ordered on Monday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 because of a lapse in funding during the government shutdown. The government says the emergency fund it will use has enough to cover about half the normal benefits.