ButcherBox Takes a Stand on Antibiotics in School Meals on Capitol Hill
Direct-to-consumer meat brand gathers supporters calling on USDA to make ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ chicken available in cafeterias across the country
WATERTOWN, Mass., Oct. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last week, ButcherBox, the leading direct-to-consumer meat and seafood brand, brought its Raise the Tray campaign to Capitol Hill, leading a congressional briefing focused on removing antibiotics from the chicken served on nearly 30 million school lunch trays every day.
The briefing, sponsored by Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., convened speakers for a discussion on the impact of antibiotics in school lunches for congressional staff from the angles of the emergency room, school kitchen, and farm.
The ask ButcherBox, and its 27 partners, has for USDA is to add no antibiotics ever (NAE) chicken to the USDA Foods Available List, the catalog schools buy their products from with federal entitlement dollars. The change, which requires no legislation and no appropriations, would give school districts a more affordable way to serve NAE chicken in their cafeterias.
“Parents who learn about antibiotics in meat work extremely hard to get them out of their homes,” said Kelly Hilovsky, senior director of sourcing and sustainability at ButcherBox. “If parents are doing this in their homes, why shouldn’t every kid have access to the same healthy protein at school? The demand is there, the supply is there, we just need a federal pathway.”
In August 2025, ButcherBox launched its Raise the Tray initiative after learning that federal school meal standards cover whole grains, fruits, and vegetables but set no quality standards for meat and seafood, items that are typically the center of the lunch tray. Since the campaign began, more than 27,000 people across the U.S. have signed the petition. Twenty-seven organizations including the Urban School Food Alliance, the Chef Ann Foundation, Perdue Farms, and Farmer Focus, signed ButcherBox’s open letter urging USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to remove antibiotics from school meals.
The congressional briefing featured a panel of experts including Dr. Avir Mitra, an emergency physician; Dr. Katie Wilson, executive director at the Urban School Food Alliance and a former USDA deputy undersecretary; Chef Jason Tepper, a K-12 school nutrition chef; and Bobbi Jo Webber, a fourth-generation independent family farmer who raises organic NAE chicken for Perdue Farms. Panelists discussed how antibiotic use in livestock production contributes to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, the hoops schools already using NAE chicken must jump through to buy it, and how a USDA pathway could strengthen the market for American farmers raising NAE chicken.
“There is a real reckoning in school meals,” said Wilson. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re the smallest school district or the largest school district, communities want antibiotics out of their products.”
ButcherBox closed the briefing by asking congressional offices to advocate to USDA and urge the agency to add NAE chicken to the USDA Foods Available List as the company continues to work with its coalition partners and the offices to make this change.
To learn more about Raise the Tray or contact your local representative, visit https://www.butcherbox.com/pages/raise-the-tray.
About ButcherBox
ButcherBox, founded in 2015 by Mike Salguero, brings 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, pork raised crate-free, and wild-caught seafood to consumers nationwide, both through its direct-to-consumer service and its retail presence in nearly 1,800 Target stores. ButcherBox is the only B Corp Certified meat and seafood company to source only from partners with third-party animal welfare certification. For more information, visit butcherbox.com.
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3573168d-8dc5-431b-8896-359c277e6e53
ButcherBox Brings Raise the Tray to Capitol Hill
ButcherBox team members hold Raise the Tray signs outside the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 22, 2026, ahead of a congressional briefing urging USDA to add no antibiotics ever (NAE) chicken to the USDA Foods list for school meals.
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