Food has traditionally been a relevant topic for research and interpretation among cultural anthropologists and continues to promote ethnographic fieldwork and theoretical debates. On its part, education – and inter/multicultural education in particular – has favored and supported educators’ attention to the dimension of socialization and hospitality that sharing food brings always about. When choosing, cooking and eating food that is different from the culturally familiar ones takes place in school contexts, the diversity of dishes, the texture, taste and presentation of the ingredients has been interpreted as capable of fostering mutual recognition and comparison. However, the potential of food as educational resource and symbolization of socio-cultural order requires that anthropologically oriented educators delve into the complex meanings (and meaning changes) that families and institutions construct, share and transmit to children and youth through the preparation of, and narratives about food and meals.

My paper will present the findings of an ethnographic research carried out in childhood education schools managed by the municipality of Padua, and will answer questions such as “what does eating at school at a very young age (6 to 36 months) mean for the children and for their parents?”, “what does preparing meals for a young school population mean for those in charge of providing, cooking and serving them, in terms of time and function organization, professional identity, accountability to families and the social services?” “What are the relevant ‘learning’ and ‘teaching’ that take place while eating meals at school, and have they changed along the years and to what extent?” “What attitudes and values are formally and informally ‘learned’ and ‘taught’?” “In what way, if any, is the educational and political decision to provide meals at school connected to local civic participation and construction of citizenship culture?”.

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