Food provisioning, anxiety and control. The process of feeding from the perspective of the mothers

Food and feeding is an important part in bringing up children. It is one way in which children become socialized; it gives rise to both pleasure and anxiety. In this article Marjorie DeVault’s understanding of food management is combined with the concept of responsibilisation. Building on in-depth interviews with mothers from different socio-economic backgrounds and focusing on their different experiences, we see the work of food managing as processual and interactional. There is a tension between trying to put norms into practice and at the same time dealing with specific, often uncertain, situations. In such a circumstance feelings of anxiety and the exertion of control manifest themselves in direct as well as indirect ways.