School serves chicken and watermelon for Black History Month

A school lunch vendor has apologized to a middle school in New York after it changed its menu to serve chicken, waffles, and watermelon to commemorate the start of Black History Month.

The Washington Post reports that food vendor Aramark outraged parents at the Nyack Middle School when it altered its original February 1st menu offerings of cheesesteaks, broccoli and fruit to serve foods that have stereotypical associations with Black Americans.

Nyack Middle School Principal David Johnson called the vendor's choice of foods "inexcusably insensitive," which prompted an official apology from Aramark.

"The situation at that middle school was our mistake and never should have happened,” an Aramark spokeswoman said in a statement. “It stands in direct contrast to who we are as a company and our longstanding commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."

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While the racially insensitive meal "never should have happened," it is also not the first time that Aramark has served up chicken, waffles, and watermelon on Martin Luther King Day in 2011 at the University of California, Irvine, according to NBC News.

The vendor also served students watermelon-flavored water on a 2018 Black History Month menu at New York University that also included barbecue ribs and collard greens.