Il cibo del distacco. Pratiche di svezzamento in migrazione

Weaning is the biocultural process of introducing solid food at the end of the infant’s nursing phase during early infancy. Anthropologists collected extensive ethnographic examples of weaning practices in different societies, although a comprehensive, comparative analysis on the subject is still to be accomplished. In this article, the author proposes to take a step in the direction of an “anthropology of weaning” by bringing together the traditions of studies on nutrition and childhood and focusing his interest on the transformations of infant feeding related to the experience of migration. After introducing the weaning process from an anthropopoietic perspective, the article presents a critical analysis of some interviews collected thanks to an interdisciplinary project developed in Turin, involving a team of anthropologists and paediatricians. The conclusions of the contribution concern the interweaving of cultural, social, economic and political aspects that influence the change of weaning practices in immigrant families.