Our Philosophy

Three core values underpin the classes we teach and the way we strive to do business at Sticky Fingers Cooking.

Respect for children

Along with making sure our children get enough sleep, helping teach our children right from wrong, and hoping along the way that they won’t end up in therapy by the time they are teenagers, feeding our children tops the list of what parents struggle to do! With increasing alarm of childhood obesity and the disappearance of the family meal, raising children who learn to respond to their body’s signals of fullness and hunger while also reaping the benefits of dinner conversation, has proved to be challenging.

Obesity rates among children have risen dramatically (Ogden et al. 2002) making childhood obesity a national public health concern. Surprisingly, along with our children getting bigger, parents control over how much and what types of food their children are eating, has tightened. Both restriction of what their child is eating and control of how much they are eating are two well-studied types of child feeding practices that relate to child weight, poor establishment of healthy eating habits, and low self-esteem (Birch et al., 2001; Francis et al., 2001; Costanza & Woody, 1985; Johnson & Birch, 1994; Fisher & Birch, 1999). Though these attempts by parents are meant to promote healthy eating behaviors, such as the ability to respond to internal cues of hunger and fullness, such gestures appear to have harmful effects on children’s establishment and maintenance of healthy body weight and healthy eating habits.

Respect for families

One of the core beliefs of Sticky Fingers Cooking is that children who are allowed to explore their food choices and decide what they would like to sample or save for another meal are, over time, better equipped to establish a healthy relationship with food and trust their bodies. Research in child nutrition informs us that children need at least fifteen opportunities to try a new food before they can form a favorable or negative opinion of it. The reality is that mealtimes with toddlers routinely consists of either selecting out foods that parents fear kids would turn their nose up at, or serving the same, bland meal over and over again! Here at Sticky Fingers Cooking we enthusiastically believe that kids who are involved in tasting flavorful foods and are a part of preparing what they will put in their mouth, will develop into well-rounded, adventurous eaters. In fact, kids who are more involved in cooking are more likely to try the food on their plate! At the end of the day, it is our hope that preparing meals together as a family will reignite the traditions of old where families were gathered together around the dinner table, enjoying good food and hearty conversation.

Respect for the environment

Whether you prefer locally-grown conventional apples or imported certified organic apples, integrating environmental values into eating habits can be a challenge. Organic products can be more expensive than conventional ones and may not look as flawless. It can be difficult to find time for a farmers’ market stop on top of a weekly grocery shop or develop relationships with local farms, let alone plant a carrot in the backyard. And it’s hard not to indulge a craving for corn in January when corn can still be found at the supermarket. Refrigeration is not evil, after all.

At Sticky Fingers, we believe in pragmatic environmentalism and think it can taste delicious! We select our recipes based on the natural growing seasons of fruits and vegetables, meaning that we are able to cook primarily with fresh, whole or minimally-processed ingredients that are better for our bodies and help to connect our kids to the real origins of their food. Rather than limiting our food choices, we think cooking seasonally allows our taste buds to discover ingredients and combinations that we’ve never tried before. And while it isn’t possible for us to procure all of our ingredients from local growers right now, we are dedicated to building up a network of local suppliers, and we try to avoid using items imported from outside the U.S. There’s no such thing as a well-traveled carrot in our book.

We also prefer to buy produce grown according to higher-than-conventional environmental standards, and meat and dairy products from animals raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. Sometimes this means buying organic, sometimes it means buying from a supplier whose practices we trust, and sometimes it means settling for the conventional brand when, for example, the risk of pesticide residues is low. But it always means a meal we feel better about sharing.

- Christine Mackstaller, Samantha Sturhahn, and Angie Mielke, Ph.D.