Food vendor Aramark sorry for chicken, waffles, watermelon menu at Nyack school on first day of Black History Month

School food vendor Aramark apologized this week after serving chicken, waffles and watermelon at a school in a New York City suburb on the first day of Black History Month.

Students at Nyack Middle School in Rockland County were served the lunch on February 1.

“They were asking people if they want watermelon and I remember being confused because it’s not in season,” student Honore Santiago told WABC.

“Didn’t think the company was capable of making us feel bad...especially the kids my color,” she said.

In a statement, the school described it as an “unfortunate situation” but blamed Aramark.

“The offering of chicken & waffles as an entree with watermelon as a dessert on the first day of Black History Month was inexcusably insensitive and reflected a lack of understanding of our district’s vision to address racial bias,” school principal David Johnson wrote in a letter to the school community.

Aramark was quick to apologize and said it was a mistake.

“We apologize for the unintentional insensitivity shown on February 1, the first day of Black History Month. While our menu was not intended as a cultural meal, we acknowledge that the timing was inappropriate, and our team should have been more thoughtful in its service,” Aramark said in a statement.

“This was a mistake and does not represent the values of our company, and we are committed to doing better in the future. We believe this will provide a good learning opportunity to deepen understanding on the impact of systemic biases and negative stereotypes concerning the African-American Community.”

The incident was not the first time Aramark tried a similar Black History Month menu. In 2018, a dining hall at NYU serviced by Aramark featured a Black History Month special menu consisting of ribs, collard greens, cornbread, smashed yams, mac and cheese, Kool Aid and watermelon-flavored water.

The school called the menu “inexcusably insensitive” and Aramark fired the two people who created the menu.

In 2011, Aramark served chicken and waffles on Martin Luther King Day at the University of California-Irvine. The company said managers and chefs would undergo sensitivity training.