The idea behind the Sticky Mitts Kids Kitchen was to find a practical, imaginative way to help schools to achieve the goals set out in the School Meals Review Panel's report in 2005, which are:

• Help children learn about food - what it looks like in raw state, what different things taste like, how food is prepared, how it can be eaten.
• Establish healthy eating patterns - help children to appreciate that healthy food tastes good and is as interesting as junk food.
• Develop practical cooking skills - provide recipes that children will like, that are economical to prepare, that work every time - guaranteed success.
• Improve children's knowledge of growing and producing food - where it comes from, how it grows, how it gets from farm to shops.
• Achieve a 10% increase in overall take-up of school meals within three years, - encouraging children to experiment with new foods, thus making them more likely to try the new healthier school meals that are now on the menu.
• Government funding has been made available to support schools in the achievement of these aims through Standards Fund Grant 5b.