An experienced grant writer and project coordinator, Robert Whirry has served as a self-employed consultant in the greater Los Angeles area since 1991. Over the years, he has worked with a wide range of nonprofit organizations and government agencies, focusing especially on efforts to improve prevention and treatment of HIV. Outside of the professional arena, Robert Whirry is a passionate cook who hosts an annual Heirloom Tomato Party each year for 125 guests. This event gives him the opportunity to cook and serve a 5-course meal that features at least one dish with a focus on heirloom tomatoes.

1. HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
UNDERSTOOD
Robert Whirry

2. Introduction
 An experienced grant writer and project coordinator, Robert Whirry has served as a
self-employed consultant in the greater Los Angeles area since 1991. Over the
years, he has worked with a wide range of nonprofit organizations and government
agencies, focusing especially on efforts to improve prevention and treatment of HIV.
Outside of the professional arena, Robert Whirry is a passionate cook who hosts an
annual Heirloom Tomato Party each year for 125 guests. This event gives him the
opportunity to cook and serve a 5-course meal that features at least one dish with a
focus on heirloom tomatoes.
The first substantiated application of the word “heirloom” within the world of
horticulture and farming occurred in the 1940s, when University of New Hampshire
professor William Hepler used the term to describe some beans that a friend had
given him. Today, “heirloom” means different things to different people, particularly in
light of recent attempts to co-opt the term for commercial purposes. However, the
term “heirloom” is most commonly attached to tomatoes that families or other groups
have passed down through several generations because of their specific and valued
characteristics.
In order to clear up confusion and misconceptions, tomato experts Carolyn Male and
Craig LeHoullier have classified heirloom tomatoes into four different categories.
Commercial heirlooms include all open-pollinated tomato verities that appeared
before 1940. Family heirlooms come from seeds that have been passed down
through familial generations. Created heirlooms are engineered by crossing existing
heirloom varieties, and mystery heirlooms arise as a result of natural cross-
pollination.