Some of us have aged or located out of gardening. In my case the problem is deer. I still enjoy reading about the exploits of others.
Standing offer for anyone that can deal with Maryland and Anne Arundel County hunting regulations can use our elevated deck as a deer stand with meals and bathroom privileges. Must shoot into the adjacent park. Well…except for some irritating neighbors. You can shoot them. sigh
Now that’s funny. Deer have overrun where I live. Cougars, wolves, and grizzly bears used to live here. Now cars are the main predators.
But we’re a tourist area (Shakespeare in the mountains) and so the tourists get enthused because they love them wandering around town as part of the experience.
The townsfolk don’t agree! 
My mom calls deer over sized rats! A 7 ft electric fence has managed to keep them out of her garden!
I haven’t posted to WFD in a year or two, but I have to say I’d have to fall on the side of keeping it broad (though pretty sure I’m too late to vote!) People covered the food based concerns already, but I’d also just add that for a small community, breaking off into a lot of different, smaller threads risks the community losing its momentum. After years on CH, and a few years here, I have to admit I don’t want this to fragment - I’ve seen too many communities slowly fall apart and decay because they lose that critical mass. So, long story short, all for keeping WFD as inclusive as possible!
I love all your extraordinary posts and photographs …
Please do not leave. I truly enjoy all your tidbits and story telling too …
3 posts were merged into an existing topic: What’s for Dinner #67 - the It’s Been A YEAR Since This All Started! Edition - March 2021
Thank you @Barca! That is very kind of you.
I always enjoy viewing your exquisite meals, with impeccable ingredients, and your husband’s gorgeous photography. It is a treat to view dining in other countries.
@Auspicious
Thanks for your insight. Some of your points can be of help.
As moderator for the cooking forum, I would say for WFD, we lose members over the years. Some of the main reasons for the departure:
There are some new members filling in, the participation rate stays more or less stable over the last years. I think some members are more interested in reading than participating and post randomly. If they are reading this thread, I would like to hear what they feel about WFD as well.
Regional boards will bloom when pandemic allows the level of hospitality that diners ache for. It’s not so much acquiring relevant HOs, as having relevant HOs go out and dine.
Very difficult - as foodies these days go for other platforms: Instagram and Facebook groups, for instance.
Kuala Lumpur’s well-established food-blogger community, for instance, network almost exclusively on Instagram - I spent 7 years in KL writing on Chowhound about KL, did almost 1,000 posts on KL eating places whilst wondering where everyone else was. Then, one day, one of them approached me out of the blue, saying he’s been following my Chowhound posts though he never posted any himself. He got me introduced to the community - all on Instagram and, lo & behold, suddenly I’m part of a group which meets up in restaurants or hawker centres to chat about food - and they consisted of food columnists of all the local newspapers, food writers and journalists who contribute to Malaysian food magazines, food influencers on social media whom I’d always heard about, restaurant owners, chefs from top eateries around town, etc.
So now, whilst I’m still actively posting on HO through sheer habit, I have a very active Instagram handle as well.
Peter Yeoh (@klyeoh_foodie) • Instagram photos and videos
I have been cooking for… longer than I care to admit. Cooking is second nature to me. And I frequently feel stale. HO’s home cooking is an ongoing inspiration, BUT ALSO are the photos from Paryzer (and Mrs. P!) and certainly Barca. Whether home cooking or take out or delivery or fine dining, I’m a big girl and know how to scroll past that that no interest to me.
Yes, we’ve had this discussion before. I never understand why people can’t just scroll on by. I do. I’m sure people scroll on by some of my posts.
as to the notion that you can’t get inspiration to cook something for dinner from someone’s posting of a restaurant meal? I do it all the time. Inspiration for cooking comes from many places - television, cookbooks, friends/family/neighbors, restaurants, etc.
i’m always going to vote for more inclusivity vs. exclusivity.
Your case is interesting, as you’ve a lot of views (more than 10k in many cases) on many of your restaurants threads, but not a lot of discussions or feedback. In this case, I wonder if the views are coming from non members. Maybe you can ask some of your friends to join us? LOL!
Like you say, these days there are too many FB discussions, and IG.
Most definitely.
Believe me, I’ve tried! 
It’s just that many of them are pretty well-established on Instagram.
But food forums like HO provide a precious resource for anyone to delve deeper into any topic - something we can’t do on Instagram with its 10-photo and 2,200-character limit, and 280-character limit for Twitter.
I’m awaiting for the next wave of change in habit where Instagram, Twitter and even Facebook users tire of the limitations of those platforms and return to platforms such as ours.
For a regional board to work, I think you need at least 8-10 active members, 2-3 very hard core members who write regular detail posts and a few to participate discussions. This might start to stir interest.
As for Europe board, it’s really tough, as English isn’t the main language here, little interest for most foodies. I see CH’s French board has a few hardcore members, but they become an information booth for restaurants planning when new members sign up just when they need advice for their next vacation. (They should charge their services). Well established people in the field have their outlet or habits in posting.
I believe making the micro boards on CH was a big part of the problem.
Heavy handed administration pushed me out. The very focused board in which I participated enjoyed some of the best of the best posters on the subject. But we knew each other and found that we didn’t need Chow to continue our communion.
Cook , Eat , live , Drink , Dine out . That’s what is about. Who cares from where or why . Inspire . Cheers . 
Word!
Put simply, the reason I don’t participate in the WFD thread is because I don’t know how or care to learn how to take, upload and post photos. I notice a few posters only write descriptions. Guess I’ll give That a shot. Who knows, maybe someone somewhere will take inspiration from what I write about my dinner. 
