What Happens in Patagonia Does Not Stay in Patagonia
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Patagonia Climate, Glacier Melting, and What One Journey Reveals About Our Changing Planet
"There are places in the world that stay with you. Patagonia is one of them."
By Lorena Mucke
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Educated Choices Program
Returning to southern Argentina felt deeply personal. South America has always been part of my story. I was born in Bolivia and spent years living in both Bolivia and Argentina, first growing up, and later again during graduate school and field research. Those experiences shaped how I see the world, how I think about food systems, and how I understand our connection to the natural environment.
Being back in this region brought all of that into focus again, but this time it felt more immediate, real, and urgent.
Patagonia is often described as wild and untouched, and in many ways, it still is. But what stayed with me most during this trip was not just its beauty. It was its fragility and the visible effects of a changing Patagonia climate.
El Chaltén, Mount Fitz Roy, and a Changing Patagonia Climate
El Chaltén, often referred to as the trekking capital of Argentina, sits at the base of Mount Fitz Roy. What makes it even more special is the people you meet along the way. Hikers come from all over the world, and there’s this unspoken sense of connection. Everyone is open, friendly, and united by a shared awe of the landscape and a deep respect for preserving it.
We spent hours on the trail toward the Fitz Roy mirador, passing lakes so pristine they looked as if they had only just been discovered. As the peaks drew closer, so did that feeling of wonder, building with every step as each turn revealed breathtaking views.
There were moments where everything felt almost surreal. Being there has a way of grounding you. You feel small, but not insignificant. More like part of something vast, beautiful, and connected.
At the same time, there were subtle signs that things were changing. Glaciers that once extended farther into the valleys have retreated. Trails quietly reveal changes that have happened over time. Even the weather feels less predictable, shifting quickly in ways that locals say are becoming more common as the climate in Patagonia continues to shift.
Walking on Perito Moreno Glacier and Witnessing Glacier Melting
From El Chaltén, we made our way to El Calafate, the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park. The transition is striking. The landscape opens up, the scale expands, and the magnificent presence of ice fills you with deep, unadulterated reverence.
Lakes stretch across the horizon, fed by massive glaciers that have existed for thousands of years. It’s the kind of place that naturally slows you down, not because you’re told to, but because you feel like you should.
We stood there, taking in icebergs of incredible beauty, each one with a unique color, shape, size, and story.
Walking on Perito Moreno Glacier was one of the most powerful experiences of the trip. It’s hard to describe what it feels like to step onto something that looks so solid and permanent, only to realize how fragile it actually is.
Glaciers have always gone through natural cycles over long periods of time. But rising global temperatures are accelerating that process, which is why glaciers are melting at a faster rate across the world.
Perito Moreno is often described as one of the more stable glaciers in the region, and yet even here, the signs of glacier melting are visible. You don’t need to study the data to understand it. You can see it.
The forces driving glacier melt are not isolated. They are connected to global systems, including the way we produce food.
How Glacier Melting and Food Systems Are Connected
Across South America, forests continue to be cleared, often to make way for cattle grazing and feed production. The Amazon rainforest, one of the most important ecosystems on the planet, is under constant pressure. These changes don’t stay contained. They ripple outward, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating biodiversity loss, and disrupting the natural systems that regulate our climate.
Why This Matters
One of the challenges with climate change is that it can feel distant, abstract, and easy to ignore.
But standing on that glacier changes that. It makes it real.
This is one of the reasons I’ve dedicated so much of my work to education. When people begin to understand how these systems connect, especially early in life, something shifts. They start to see that their choices matter, not in an overwhelming way, but in an empowering one.
Food is one of the most tangible choices we can make. It’s something we engage with every day, and it’s also one of the most powerful ways we can reduce our impact.
And during those several days of exploration, we enjoyed some of the most delicious, healthful, and sustainable meals, ranging from pumpkin-stuffed pasta and a plant-based Argentinian parrillada to lentil stew with plant-based sausages.
A Renewed Sense of Purpose
This trip was more than a visit. It was a reminder that the natural world is both incredibly resilient and incredibly fragile. A reminder that change is already happening, whether we choose to see it or not. But most importantly, a reminder that we still have a role to play in what comes next.
At the Educated Choices Program, we believe that knowledge leads to empowerment. When people understand the connection between food, health, and the environment, they are better equipped to make choices that align with the future they want to see. Standing on ancient ice made one thing clear: the time to act is not someday. It is now.
For those interested in exploring these connections further, our digital library offers free, classroom-ready resources designed to help people make informed, impactful choices: educatedchoices.org.
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