With the “vegetable mule” on Cycle Route 888

The “Bern Green Belt” stretches 59 kilometres, connecting the communities around Bern and is part of the local recreation area of the federal city. Wieland, who calls himself the “vegetable mule”, feels most at home when he is out and about on his e-bike. Then he says he feels the weather, can enjoy the landscape, and it fits in with his world view of sustainability.
 

It is not only how the vegetable mule gets around that is sustainable, but also what is on the trailer. From farming to harvesting, Wieland produces food with the simplest possible tools and works primarily using muscle power. He sells his goods at the market in Bern, among other places. The market reflects what makes the city tick. People treat each other with respect, they take time for each other and show consideration for nature.

From the organic farm to the market or to the packaging-free shop. If you’re not yet completely convinced of the sustainable lifestyle of the people of Bern you should pay a visit to the packaging-free shop “Palette”. The old town shop buys Wieland's goods and thus completes the circle. What sprouts from a seed on the farm of the vegetable grower is sold here to the end customer with zero packaging and therefore zero waste. Oil, for example, is filled directly into the shopper's own glass bottle, while dried fruit is weighed into a cloth bag.

From seed to finished product, Thomas Wieland deliberately works on a small scale. For him, humans, machines, and the environment are directly related to each other. The vegetable mule is convinced that this kind of production of staple foods is a way for the future, and also already for the present.