Bern’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's also where the weekly market takes place. Here you can feel what the city is all about: close to nature, sustainable and charming. You can feel the slower pace of life wherever you go.

Before sunrise, Thomas Wieland loads up his trailer with fruit and vegetables in front of the organic farm in Thörishaus before setting off. His e-bike and trailer takes him to Bern quickly and in an environmentally friendly way. His work route couldn't be any more scenic. Avenues of trees, windy little streets, courtyards. Wieland's commute is part of the Bern Green Belt – 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 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.

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.

As much as Wieland likes Bern, in the late afternoon he always looks forward to his return journey on the “Bern Green Belt” back to the organic farm in Thörishaus. The family man and former engineer lives here simply and close to nature. He prepares his pears, beans, or even polenta using muscle power or solar-powered machines. Wieland likes to tinker and is constantly working on new projects. For example, he invented the productive fitness centre. Those who exercise here grind maize or press rapeseed oil at the same time. After the workout on the specially made machines, the goods can be taken home. It could hardly be any more sustainable!