Into the wild: tales of foraging in Armenia
In Armenia, wild foraging sits at the intersection of survival, tradition and rediscovery. Once a quiet means of making ends meet, it now raises broader questions about people’s relationship with nature, knowledge and responsibility.
April 20, 2026 -
Kushane՛ Chobanyan
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Issue 3 2026MagazineStories and ideas
Anahit Yesayan, 62, has never stopped wild forest foraging over the last 25 years. The single mother says she raised her four children through foraging. Back in the 1990s, when Anahit’s husband died, she moved from Yerevan to Berd, in the province of Tavush. While born in a Tavush village (Tovuz in Soviet times), she does not remember going to the mountains or foraging as a child because she was focused on her education. Her father and brother were famous animal hunters, but she herself never approved of hunting.
“The 1990s were hard to survive, and people were trying to find ways to keep their families,” Anahit says. “I can’t imagine seeing a reindeer in the forest and taking a hunting rifle to kill it.” She never dreamed of a comfortable life, big houses, or luxury places to stay. The woman laughs that her “Dubai vacation” is in nature, where she feels in harmony with herself and the world. Her passion for education was interrupted when her husband suddenly died in a car accident. She and her sister started doing anything that could bring in some money for the family.
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