In the past 40 years, we've lost many of our heirloom varieties, along with many smaller family farms that supported heirlooms, The multitude of heirlooms that had adapted to service well for hundreds of years were lost or replaced by fewer hybrid tomatoes, bred for their commercially adoptive characteristics. Each heirloom variety is genetically unique and inherent. In this uniqueness is an evolved resistance to pest, diseases, and an adaptation to specific growing conditions and climates.

The late Jack Harlan, world-reknowned plant collector, wrote, "These resources stand between us and catastrophic starvation on a scale we cannot imagine. In a very real sense, the future of the human race rides on these materials. The line between abundance and disaster is becoming thinner and thinner, and the public unaware and unconcerned. Must we wait for disaster to be real before we are heard? Will people listen only after it is too late? It is up to us as gardeners and resposible stewards of the earth to assure that we sustain the diversity afforded through heirloom varieties."