Aramark Apologizes After Serving Chicken And Waffles During Black History Month
Black History Month is observed in the United States every February. The annual observance is designed to spotlight the heritage of Black Americans and their achievements in the arts, entertainment, business, politics, and education, as well as the sacrifices they've made (per NPR).
The credit for establishing what we now know as Black History Month goes to Carter G. Woodson, who chose February both because President Abraham Lincoln was born in February and because abolitionist and activist Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery in Maryland, marked his birthday in February (per NPR). Former President Gerald R. Ford made it an official month-long observance in 1976.
But in 2023, Black History Month got off to a disappointing and controversial start at Nyack Middle School in New York, about 25 miles from New York City, when pupils arrived in the cafeteria to find chicken and waffles on the menu, with watermelon for dessert (per WABC-TV). School leaders and Aramark, the school's food service provider, issued an apology after students and parents complained about the ill-timed and culturally insensitive menu choices.
A dish associated with enslaved people
Nyack Middle School Principal David Johnson placed blame for the Black History Month menu squarely on Aramark, calling it "inexcusably insensitive" (via ABC 7). The menu for February 1 was supposed to be Philly cheesesteak, with sides of broccoli and fresh fruit. It was apparently changed without the district's knowledge.
Aramark apologized for its error, telling NBC News that the school lunch fiasco in Nyack "never should have happened." Aramark has faced similar controversy in the past, including a 2011 Martin Luther King Day menu at the University of California, Irvine, that included chicken and waffles (per the Los Angeles Times).
Some trace the combination of chicken and waffles to early American Pennsylvania Dutch kitchens, while others say the pairing of fried chicken and waffles has its origins in the American South of the 1800s, where the dish was likely prepared by enslaved people, who were responsible for much of the cooking in home kitchens at that time (per MyRecipes).