Everyone has different opinions on this one. I personally leave my kitties alone. Cats are naturally climbers so trying to keep them off doesn't work for me. I even keep one of their food bowls on the kitchen island because one of my babies hates to eat on the floor and the other one likes to sleep on top of the refrigerator. I don't prepare food on the counters unless I sanitize them so I don't worry about it.
In the past, my dad hated it when our cats jumped on the dining table or the kitchen counters. He would tell us to get the cats off the table/counters. Every time a cat did that, one of us would get to the cats first before my dad did. He was strict with the cats and with us Now that I have my own cats, I don't go mad if my cats get on the table/counters, but I do take them down and tell them "not to do it again". So far, only one has tried to test me...
They're not allowed on the counters, too. There are some exceptions, such as, they can jump up there to get a window sill, but they're not allowed to sleep there. I don't mind when people do let them on there, though, so long as they take care to clean the area before preparing food on the same countertops. That's just common sense.
My kitty has been trying to jump on my table during meal times. Just yesterday he jumped up and started attacking the butter. It was the funniest thing ever, but it was also infuriating because he is going to end up ruining dinner when guests come over. Ugh, so annoying. I yell at him, but he doesn't get it.
What kind of food does he get, Steph? When we had issues with jumping on the table a lot, the vet suggested switching away from wet/canned food and it worked wonders. Now we don't have any issues at all.
I don't punish Dolores for being on the kitchen counter, and I do clean it before doing any food preparation. But I don't let her jump on the dining room table because I don't like cat hair in my dinner.
My kitties would get a yell when they were on the counters in the past. I didn't want them on the counters or the dinner table and it didn't take long to get them out of the habit. I barely raised my voice too, just called their name in a stern voice (better choice of words then yell.) My male wasn't able to jump too well before he past, but he was 17 and my female is not much of a jumper so she doesn't jump up on more then the bed, couch or window sill.
