The tomatoes that she is talking about are the kind that ship well and look nice.

You can find the tasty kind all over the place. San Marzano are industrial tomatoes that are tasty and they come, although not just, in cans. Russian tomatoes, called Black Krim, are the industrial(ish) version of an heirloom tomato. They are delicious. There are lots of easily accessible and tasty tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes have all sorts of flavors, sizes, shapes and colors. Some are funny looking, don’t come in uniform sizes, have strange colors or are an absolute pain to grow. They are not going to disappear because they are compellingly yummy.

They come from seeds. The tomato you didn’t pick will grow the same next year where it fell.

Apples, on the other hand, are all from clones. They do not come from sowing seeds, naturally or by hand. Every seed planted is always random and usually terrible to eat. You might get one in a million seeds that grows to something tasty and then isn’t disease or weather tolerant.

Heirloom apples are not going away, either. Alcoholic beverages are made from them. No one is going without their booze. They do need to be curated if you want the really good booze and the cider you find in the grocery store ain’t shit.