LAUSD schools to serve antibiotic-free chicken

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Amid growing public health concerns over antibiotic misuse, the Los Angeles Unified School District will now be serving antibiotic-free chicken.

Eighty percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are not used by medical professionals, but by farmers, said Mark Izeman, a senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council. The council lent its expertise to help LAUSD and other districts set standards for school cafeterias.

"The more antibiotics we're using in factory farms, the less the antibiotics are working in the hospitals," Izeman said. "The federal government may not be acting as fast as we want. There may not be any state requirements, but we want to protect our kids."

Collectively, the LAUSD schools serve almost 3 million students per day, and chicken is often on the menu.

While some parents have expressed support for healthier choices for their kids, healthy items sometimes come at a price. The average price of a whole generic store bought chicken is $1.50 per pound compared to an organic, vegetarian fed and antibiotic-free chicken at about $2.69 per pound.

Still, the schools are not going organic, the antibiotic free chicken is considerably more expensive. But with six districts collectively buying the chickens, they said the cost increase will be minimal.

"As you have all of these cities and others begin to buy antibiotic-free chicken, there's going to be no difference in price," Izeman said.