Instagram Account Shares NASTY Photos of Mormon Missionary Meals

[Third Hour]

An entertaining new Instagram account named @calledtoeat popped up a few months ago and is gaining popularity by posting (you guessed it) photos of the crazy kinds of food that Mormon missionaries have to choke down during their stint abroad. From cow tongue to crickets, here's a sample of the posts: Fried, Flattened Squid in Taiwan https://www.instagram.com/p/BeEeWcXFY8k/?taken-by=calledtoeat Bird Fetus (Balut) in Hong Kong https://www.instagram.com/p/BgCxc6anKhI/?taken-by=calledtoeat Tarantulas in Cambodia https://www.instagram.com/p/BiX5smelqya/?taken-by=calledtoeat Crickets in Taiwan https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg9tn31FHoI/?taken-by=calledtoeat Grubs in Peru https://www.instagram.com/p/BgkAzfmHNHU/?taken-by=calledtoeat Cow's Tongue in Mexico https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdy6ToUlBE9/?taken-by=calledtoeat Goanna Lizard in Australia https://www.instagram.com/p/BdtU01TlVNG/?taken-by=calledtoeat Meat Jello in Russia https://www.instagram.com/p/BdCSdPnFUPT/?taken-by=calledtoeat Chicken Feet in Spain https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc8axVrlSVv/?taken-by=calledtoeat Turtle Legs in Peru https://www.instagram.com/p/BiAlnLRlOdw/?taken-by=calledtoeat What crazy foods did you encounter on your mission? Share in the comments below.

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[Guest Godless]

Hey, don't knock lengua until you've tried it!

[Just_A_Guy]

How horrible.  Many of the members who feed missionaries, are giving them the very best they can afford and (in my experience serving in Brazil) sometimes feed the missionaries better than they feed their own children.  So what if it’s different than what these elders are used to? 

What clueless, spoiled, first-world ingrates we seem to be sending into the mission field these days . . .

Edited August 4, 2018 by Just_A_Guy

[Guest Godless]

My sister's family is about to spend 6 months in Indonesia. I got her an Indonesian cookbook for her birthday and now I really want to look through it. I bet there are some killer snake recipes in there.

[NeedleinA]

9 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

How horrible.  Many of the members who feed missionaries, are giving them the very best they can afford and (in my experience serving in Brazil) sometimes feed the missionaries better than they feed their own children.  So what if it’s different than what these elders are used to?

^^^^ This

[Guest MormonGator]

2 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

^^^^ This

Yup. I think this is very disrespectful to the people who open up their homes (and more importantly, wallets) to the missionaries. 
Not funny in the least. 

[anatess2]

On 8/3/2018 at 10:27 PM, Just_A_Guy said:

How horrible.  Many of the members who feed missionaries, are giving them the very best they can afford and (in my experience serving in Brazil) sometimes feed the missionaries better than they feed their own children.  So what if it’s different than what these elders are used to? 

What clueless, spoiled, first-world ingrates we seem to be sending into the mission field these days . . .

I don't have Instagram so I can't see the thing for myself.  But is it meant to mock, though?  Or is it just a... look Ma,  check it out!

As a Filipino, I'm kinda bummed they featured balut in Hongkong.  Most Filipinos would be tickled pink they got some foreigner to brag about eating the stuff.  If they say, i ate it and it was yuk yuk yuk... it's funnier. 

P.S.  Yeah, they should change that title from NASTY though.  That's a terrible word choice,  Even for being funny.  @MormonHub, you would need to change that title.

 

Edited August 7, 2018 by anatess2

[Just_A_Guy]

10 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

I don't have Instagram so I can't see the thing for myself.  But is it meant to mock, though?  Or is it just a... look Ma,  check it out!

I’m not sure it matters; if the meal is the best someone can produce and is offered in good faith, then the public “look how weird this is!” doesn’t go down well.

I mean, yeah; lots of foods we ate as missionaries were pretty bad; and certainly there’s going to be some private dark humor about it amongst the missionaries or between the missionaries and their families.  But taking that attitude public, seems like a bridge too far.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Just_A_Guy

[anatess2]

1 minute ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I’m not sure it matters; if the meal is the best someone can produce and is offered in good faith, then the public “look how weird this is!” doesn’t go down well.

I mean, yeah; lots of foods we ate as missionaries were pretty bad; and certainly there’s going to be some private dark humor about it amongst the missionaries or between the missionaries and their families.  But taking that attitude public, seems like a bridge too far.

I understand the sentiment - especially with the word NASTY used to describe it.

But I see it more as a show of how far missionaries go and the different cultures so far removed from their own they engage in rather than knocking the food.  I think it could be that with the better word choice for a title.

[mordorbund]

[Vort]

53 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

Oh, look! Cream of wheat!

[NeuroTypical]

Meat comes in a jello?  What have I been doing with my life?

[anatess2]

I'm just happy they didn't feature pineapple on a pizza.  I would have protested until Mormonhub took the article down.

[Guest MormonGator]

2 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I’m not sure it matters; if the meal is the best someone can produce and is offered in good faith, then the public “look how weird this is!” doesn’t go down well.

I mean, yeah; lots of foods we ate as missionaries were pretty bad; and certainly there’s going to be some private dark humor about it amongst the missionaries or between the missionaries and their families.  But taking that attitude public, seems like a bridge too far.

It's actually highly insulting to the families. If you want to make jokes about it, fine. But have the integrity to do it in front of the people who feed you. If they are okay with it, fine. If not, then don't make the joke. 

It really bothers me that missionaries would do this. I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does. 

[anatess2]

21 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

It's actually highly insulting to the families. If you want to make jokes about it, fine. But have the integrity to do it in front of the people who feed you. If they are okay with it, fine. If not, then don't make the joke. 

It really bothers me that missionaries would do this. I don't know why it bothers me as much as it does. 

Who says this article is a joke?  It's an article about different cultures.

This is the same as that interview with that Spiderman actor guy eating "weird Korean food" in South Korea.  He tried everything, enjoyed some, spit out some.  Nothing offensive about that.

[omegaseamaster75]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

Who says this article is a joke?  It's an article about different cultures.

This is the same as that interview with that Spiderman actor guy eating "weird Korean food" in South Korea.  He tried everything, enjoyed some, spit out some.  Nothing offensive about that.

Spitting out food that someone paid for and worked for is offensive, you don't have to have seconds but you should be polite.

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

Spitting out food that someone paid for and worked for is offensive, you don't have to have seconds but you should be polite.

Correct. It's basic manners. In fact, it's incredibly basic manners. 

That it even has to be addressed is a little depressing. Shouldn't your mother teach you this when you are oh, I don't know. Seven-ish? Not 18. 

[Guest MormonGator]

Why stop at food? Let's make fun of people who live in trailers and small apartments. Post their pictures on instagram and get everyone to laugh at them. That's cool too, right? 

Edited August 7, 2018 by MormonGator

[Midwest LDS]

I have to admit, the idea behind the article made me nervous for the same reason it does for you guys. I had meals I didn't like as a missionary, and you better believe the people feeding me had no clue about it. That's just basic politeness and gratitude for the gift given. But I just went through the Instagram posts, and I did not find any that were disrespectful. A lot of them show missionaries at street vendors talking about food they bought themselves. Even the ones we would consider weird by American standards (brains, balut, fried insects) were often also described favorably by the people posting them. The Elder eating fried crickets actually said he liked them, and thought they tasted like potato chips. The point of the posts, at least what I picked up on, was odd foods people have eaten not nasty foods we had to choke down. Very few of them were in members homes, and those few that were frequently had the smiling members with them so despite my initial reservations, I think this site is Kosher...well Mormon Kosher😉.

[anatess2]

1 hour ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

Spitting out food that someone paid for and worked for is offensive, you don't have to have seconds but you should be polite.

In an interview whose objective is to "try this Korean delicacy" and a promotion for a movie, the guest is not expected to pretend to like something to be polite.  He's expected to try the food and tell the truth of whether he likes it or not.  The COOL part is that he TRIED the food.  He's not expected to swallow it if it tastes bad.

As far as missionaries coming to my house and eating my food, he's not expected to force himself to eat something he can't stomach.  We're cultured enough to understand it's not normal to find balut where these missionaries are from.  Just like you shouldn't expect a Filipino to swallow rare beef if he can't stomach it.  In the Philippines, eating rare beef could kill you.

[anatess2]

19 minutes ago, Midwest LDS said:

I have to admit, the idea behind the article made me nervous for the same reason it does for you guys. I had meals I didn't like as a missionary, and you better believe the people feeding me had no clue about it. That's just basic politeness and gratitude for the gift given. But I just went through the Instagram posts, and I did not find any that were disrespectful. A lot of them show missionaries at street vendors talking about food they bought themselves. Even the ones we would consider weird by American standards (brains, balut, fried insects) were often also described favorably by the people posting them. The Elder eating fried crickets actually said he liked them, and thought they tasted like potato chips. The point of the posts, at least what I picked up on, was odd foods people have eaten not nasty foods we had to choke down. Very few of them were in members homes, and those few that were frequently had the smiling members with them so despite my initial reservations, I think this site is Kosher...well Mormon Kosher😉.

The Title is the problem.  How can we get Mormonhub to change that title?  @pam, do you know?

[Guest MormonGator]

1 hour ago, Midwest LDS said:

I have to admit, the idea behind the article made me nervous for the same reason it does for you guys. I had meals I didn't like as a missionary, and you better believe the people feeding me had no clue about it. That's just basic politeness and gratitude for the gift given. But I just went through the Instagram posts, and I did not find any that were disrespectful. A lot of them show missionaries at street vendors talking about food they bought themselves. Even the ones we would consider weird by American standards (brains, balut, fried insects) were often also described favorably by the people posting them. The Elder eating fried crickets actually said he liked them, and thought they tasted like potato chips. The point of the posts, at least what I picked up on, was odd foods people have eaten not nasty foods we had to choke down. Very few of them were in members homes, and those few that were frequently had the smiling members with them so despite my initial reservations, I think this site is Kosher...well Mormon Kosher😉.

You might be right. I apologize if that's the intention. 

[Midwest LDS]

4 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

You might be right. I apologize if that's the intention. 

I was worried about the same things you were, which is why I was initially hesitant to click on it, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. I'll take a pleasant surprise any day as I'm sometimes pretty jaded☺.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Midwest LDS

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, Midwest LDS said:

I was worried about the same things you were, which is why I was initially hesitant to click on it, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. I'll take a pleasant surprise any day as I'm sometimes pretty jaded☺.

 

Go to twenty seconds in. 

[Midwest LDS]

57 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

 

Go to twenty seconds in. 

Aw the Simpsons from back when the Simpsons were good. Classic👍