We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study in collaboration with Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, Program in Nutrition.

Our goal is to open a new area in scientific literature that illuminates successful delivery and communication techniques.

Over time, as other practitioners and researchers add to this body of research, we can achieve consensus about what constitutes effective Teaching Kitchen curriculum.

In the infographic that follows, we lay out what these drivers are, what they mean in a Teaching Kitchen, and how to activate them.

[Infographic transcribed:]

A few examples of the many ways FamilyCook programs create experiences to shift participants’ Core Values + Perceptions of their capabilities.

Challenge
Move participants out of their comfort zone with new flavors and skills.
In action: Global recipes and presentations made by participants push them past their boundaries and promote growth.

Celebration
Create an atmosphere so fun, enjoyable, and special, one does not want it to end.
In action: Festive, colorful place settings and fun tools create a celebratory environment; the learning experience feels more like a party than a class.

Collaboration
Generate a positive group dynamic that values group over individual accomplishment. Create a feeling of being part of something bigger.
In action: As teams prep food together, they must learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses to achieve weekly goals.

Home Environment
Actively address home dynamics, facilities and access to healthy food. Create solutions and strategies together.
In action: Take-home recipe assignments encourage participants to adapt recipe concepts using easily accessible ingredients at home, with family and friends.

Palate Development
Explore, investigate and taste a wide range of flavors from fresh ingredients, spices and condiments. Build anticipation and excitement in trying new combinations
In action: Participants are expected to at least taste each new multicultural dish that they themselves have prepared.

Peer Support
Experience subliminal sense of a level playing field with other participants; New behaviors become normative and acceptable.
In action: Participants collaborate in teams with their peers toward a common, challenging goal which creates a level playing field. They feel supported by their group and empowered to achieve their goal.

Recipe Concepts
Move beyond recipe driven cooking. Empower participants to understand recipe concepts and how to swap ingredients.
In action: In-class discussion on exchanging ingredients by season bolsters understanding of recipes as concept. Take-home charts reinforce this.

Skill Building
Build culinary and leadership skills that position participants as ambassadors sharing healthy food strategies and flavors with others.
In action: Participants’ culinary skills are assessed 2–3 times over the course of the class.

Skill Reinforcement
Measure participants’ advancing skills through repeated tasks over multiple sessions; point out that the tasks that were once challenging are now easy.
In action: Participants receive assessment and feedback on their skill development verbally and numerically.

Success
Create activities so participants build confidence, become competent, develop pride and feel a sense of accomplishment.
In action: Activities are set up for participants to experience success.

Over the last 20 years, 10 Communication and Delivery Methods emerged from FamilyCook Production’s program development, refinement, evaluation, and dissemination. In combination, they have produced behavior change among all age groups. FamilyCook Productions is conducting further research on these Methods in collaboration with Teachers College, Columbia University, Program in Nutrition to understand more about the experiences they create that are so critical to changing behaviors.

To learn more about our evidence-based Teaching Kitchen programs, visit our Teaching Kitchen page or email me at lynn@familycookproductions.com.

This is the second article in a new series to illuminate key ‘drivers of behavior change’ around healthful eating. After 20 years of designing, evaluating and retooling curriculum to increase successful behavioral outcomes among all ages, we have identified 10 distinct behavior drivers. We are currently investigating these 10 drivers in a new study in collaboration with Columbia University’s Teachers College, Program in Nutrition. Our goal is to open a new area in the scientific literature that illuminates successful delivery and communication techniques. Over time as other practitioners and researchers add to this body of research, we can achieve consensus about what constitutes effective Teaching Kitchen curriculum.

As all good educators know, students of any age get excited when they are challenged. Now I don’t necessarily mean doing trigonometry without a calculator. But I do mean challenging people to step outside their comfort zone. There’s no question that when it comes to food, the older people are, the MORE challenging it feels to try something they think they won’t like. I’ve watched 5 year olds taste seaweed, while the adults in the room all protested ‘Eeew!’

Challenging those who come to your Teaching Kitchen to go beyond their comfort zone must be approached carefully. When a toddler turns their nose at a new food, parents quickly become frustrated. But the savvy parents recognize that their little one has already gone through the oral stage — when EVERYTHING was explored by putting it in their mouths! Indeed, it’s a survival instinct that, once this oral stage has passed, young children begin to be very discerning about what goes in there. When we think of it like that, it’s a good thing, right?

…Read the complete article on the FamilyCook Teaching Kitchen Blog: Challenge: A Driver of Behavior Change for Effective Teaching Kitchens

See how “Challenge” fits into the overall story of behavior change as it pertains to Teaching Kitchen work in our infographic below, and preview the rest of the drivers, which we’ll be covering in the coming weeks:

Other Articles in our ‘Drivers’ series:
Celebration
Collaboration
Home Environment

To learn more about our evidence-based Teaching Kitchen programs, visit our Teaching Kitchen page or email me at lynn@familycookproductions.com.

Which of the cooking class descriptions below will draw more response?

A Healthy Cooking Class to Teach Successful Diabetes Management
or A Global Cooking Adventure, One Delicious Recipe at a Time

No contest right? The first one implies you have work to do, while the second one promises pleasure through exploration.

It’s not news that cooking can be fun, yet as we collaborate with our partners, they want to know WHY our approach is so successful. While all our 10 ‘drivers of behavior change’ each play a pivotal role in program success and are not created equal, the concept of celebration is absolutely essential. No matter if it’s a WIC parent and child, a child at a YMCA after school, a Teen Battle Chef in high school or an adult learning to eat differently to manage their health — the very first session they experience had better hook them through a celebratory atmosphere and enjoyment…

Read the full article on our Teaching Kitchen Blog.

To learn more about our evidence-based Teaching Kitchen programs, visit our Teaching Kitchen page or email me at lynn@familycookproductions.com.

Following my attendance at Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Research Day —a summit of researchers, chefs, medical professionals and others looking to advance Teaching Kitchen programs as a means to improve public health — I find myself thinking through the challenges that came up throughout the event. While we have compelling research and cool new developments in the Teaching Kitchen space, there are some common barriers that we need to tackle as a group.

One common theme was behavior change. If you’re someone involved in Teaching Kitchen initiatives, you know that behavior change can be tough to sustain and even tougher to prove. FamilyCook has developed a model for drivers of behavior change outcomes, which empowers Teaching Kitchen programs to drive change and sustain it. We very much have the tools to overcome that hurdle and help others to do so as well.

When it comes to some of the other challenges, like competing with media messages and standardizing how we validate Teaching Kitchen research, there is still much room for innovation.

Find out more about the challenges posed to the Teaching Kitchen community and feel free to comment about your own TK challenges or some of the solutions you’ve developed around our common challenges.

The first-ever Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Research Day was February 7th in Napa Valley. Teaching Kitchen (TK) colleagues across the country converged to share research and strategies. A few things in particular stood out to me among the presentations:

1. Shared Appointments

Could group visits to the doctor foster the positive kind of peer pressure needed for healthy behavior changes?

2. Mobile/Pop-Up Teaching Kitchens

For many organizations, funding, space, and staff are common barriers to establishing Teaching Kitchens. Enter the growing popularity of pop-up TKs.

3. Unique Environments

One way to engage people in cooking is by providing unique experiences that make them eager to take part.

4. Going Digital

While some Teaching Kitchens are leveraging unique physical spaces to create memorable experiences as a means to drive behavior change, others are leveraging — or even living in — the digital world.

5. Culinary Literacy for Medical Students — From Student to Teacher

The growth in this focus at medical schools is key, as research has shown that we need physicians to validate these behaviors with patients for serious, wide-spread positive health outcomes.

I encourage you to read my full recap of the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Research Day, where I go more in-depth on the “cool” projects from the likes of Google, Cleveland Clinic, and the Culinary Institute of America.