Ron Zayac has been in the gardening business since 1985. His garden center in Westlake, Ohio, called Canterbury Creek Gardens, specializes in perennials including an impressive variety of daylilies and hostas. However, Ron’s gardening business stands apart from others in one meaningful way—the mission of Canterbury Creek Gardens is to promote healthier lifestyles. Ron generously demonstrates this passion by presenting shoppers with delicious samples of spring rolls and salads that he has prepared with the fresh organic ingredients from his garden.

Ron’s involvement with organic gardening began in the 1970s. He initially was seeking quantitative gardening results. But as Ron explored the topic, he soon discovered that organic gardening was an ideal means of improving the quality of life for humans and the planet. Since then, Ron has dedicated himself to educating others on the holistic benefits of organic gardening.

For example, when shoppers express an interest in purchasing chemical pesticides for their lawns and gardens, Ron proudly explains that his garden center is not the place to find them. He then educates customers on organic gardening practices such as natural methods of soil preparation and pest control.

Ron believes that as a culture we have lost our connection to nature, and that this disconnect has resulted in practices that are threatening our well-being and that of the planet. However, rather than engaging in “quick fixes” that could lead to long-term problems, Ron explains that we can make conscientious changes by listening to and imitating nature, as well as instituting wise, preventive and nurturing practices such as mindfully feeding our lawns and gardens and also our bodies.

Ron strongly believes that if we challenge the accepted standards of how and what we eat—particularly if we increase our intake of micronutrients—we will have the potential to enjoy optimal health and wellness. He supports this position by citing the biochemical research of Bruce Ames, a scientist whose vast contribution includes researching the connection of molecular biology and nutrition. Ames’ research has found that our modern diets lack significant micronutrients including iron, zinc and magnesium, as well as vitamins A and C, which leads to long-term malnutrition and contributes to serious health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, weakened arteries, heart problems, obesity and damage to DNA.

Moved by Ames’ scientific findings, Ron’s passion is to educate people to seriously reconsider their dietary choices. Ron suggests that if we focus more on taking in nutrients and less on restricting calories, we could obtain 50 percent of the phytochemicals needed to cleanse our systems. Instead, he points out, we fill ourselves with corn, rice and wheat, which have “empty” calories rather than the micronutrients our bodies crave. Therefore, our bodies “think” we are starving and trigger a fat-storage response.

Ron believes that advertising often leads us astray in our eating habits and skews our beliefs about nutrition. For example, many people eat commercial-brand prepackaged foods and produce that has ripened on trucks while being shipped cross country instead of on the vine.

Prepackaged foods—and even truck-ripened produce—lack the full-nutrient advantage of garden-fresh foods. We can make wiser choices for ourselves, he suggests, by redirecting our energy and resources—both personal and environmental—to growing, harvesting and eating from our own vegetable gardens. Growing our own veggies assures us a continual supply of nutritionally sound food that is far superior to the produce trucked in from across the globe. As an added bonus, preparing our soil organically rather than wondering what pesticides were used to grow supermarket produce, gives us confidence in the safeness of our food supply. To illustrate his point, he quotes Franklin D. Roosevelt, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.”

Ron loves his job and has made it his mission to educate people about better gardening practices and nutrition. He relates the practice of organic gardening to the taking of preventive measures to keep our human bodies and our planet in optimal health. “Organic gardening is like holistic living,” he says. “In the end it is easier and less expensive to keep your plants in the best of health rather than solve a multitude of problems later on.”

To that Ron adds, “Organic gardening is the essence of environmental consciousness and responsibility.”