Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2024 April 26

= April 26 =

Competitive gardening
I am reading here and there about a tradition of competitive gardening in Britain, but I suspect it traces farther back to other countries. We have no article on competitive gardening so there's nothing for me to refer back to on Wikipedia. My question is this: how did this "sport" arise, and why were (or are) the British so keen on it? Viriditas (talk) 02:45, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * See The Big Allotment Challenge and .2A00:23C5:E12F:5300:686F:8285:5E66:FB1B (talk) 11:26, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Also Britain in Bloom, which I see was based on the French Concours des villes et villages fleuris, so the UK has competition in that area, so to speak. There are also horticultural aspects of the County show, as well as more local shows and festivals in towns and villages. The Chelsea Flower Show (referenced in the previous answer) is the pinnacle of quite a large pyramid. -- Verbarson talkedits 12:52, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * And for the 'Formula One' of competitive gardening, you might consider, and its peers (pun intended). -- Verbarson talkedits 12:56, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Viriditas (talk) 19:43, 26 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Note, if anyone is interested in this topic, I have been referred to Roderick Floud, the author of An Economic History of the English Garden (2019). Viriditas (talk) 19:27, 2 May 2024 (UTC)

(Lack of) mustard for New Yorkers?
Per our article on McDonald's stuff, how come their hamburger, cheeseburger +varients, and ¼pounder are al served without mustard, as the article tells us three or four times, 'in all or a large portion of the New York City region'? ——Serial Number 54129 13:08, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Every article I found chalked it up to customer preference from customer surveys in the 70s. 75.136.148.8 (talk) 15:06, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * This is one of those absurd takes that I will never, ever get. The taste preferences, demographics, and food choices of the New York metropolitan area have changed drastically in the last 50 years.  If you were to take someone, let's say in their mid-20s, put them in a time machine, and take them back to 1970s New York and tell them to spend a day trying food all over town, virtually none of their current, 2024-taste preferences would share anything remotely similar with the 1970s.  Even the pizza would taste different.  Food science, additives, tastes, flavor profiles, and choices have changed so much over the intervening years, that it would be like visiting a different country.  There's also the fact that while there were exceptions, food choices were extremely limited up until that point.  I remember walking around the city at that time, and your choices basically amounted to steak dinner, Chinese (which bears very little resemblance to west coast Asian cuisine today), Italian, Greek, American (burgers, hot dogs, deli), and well, that was about it. Viriditas (talk) 20:06, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Chacun a youse gout. Clarityfiend (talk) 13:20, 28 April 2024 (UTC)