San Angelo, Texas Attendees of the American Emu Association National Convention will be celebrating Lasagna Awareness Month at their Saturday evening banquet. Easier to make than it looks, the layered dish is just one of many featured in the official cookbook of the American Emu Association: Emu Life Just Got Healthier. The cookbook contains 500 favorite recipes from "the people who eat emu every day, members of the American Emu Association. It will be available for purchase at the Emu Mall this July 14th and 15th at the Madison West-Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. Opening to the public at 7:30 AM, the Emu Mall is a yearly event held in conjunction with the American Emu Association National Convention.

Emu is recognized as Heart Health by the American Heart Association, and ranked best in 15 out of 20 essential nutrients in a USDA funded study at the University of Wisconsin. Emu came out lower in fat, including saturated fats, but higher in protein, reports American Emu Association president Charles Ramey. It was also higher in iron and several other essential vitamins than the other six meats tested.

Louisiana Chef Dale Bourgeois agrees, Emu is a high-protein, low-fat, nutrient-packed, heart-healthy red meat that can be substituted in any recipe calling for lean meat. It's also an economical buy. You are buying meat, not fat, skin or bone. There is very little shrinkage, so you can use the amount of emu vs. other meats. The recipe book contains an introduction by Bourgeois expounding the merits of cooking with this low-cholesterol red meat, along with nutritional information on both emu meat and emu egg. The cookbook is reassuring to health conscious cooks who might be a little nervous about trying something new. 200 of the easy to prepare recipes feature emu as a familiar main dish. In a delightful twist, recipes calling for egg are given the "emu equivalent" followed by the number of chicken eggs you could substitute. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of emu egg, you may substitute 4 chicken eggs.

"If you collect cookbooks, you are going to want this one," said Joylene Reavis, Wisconsin Emu Association president. The cookbook provides a variety of regional favorites that are sure to please.

"Emu - Life Just Got Healthier" cookbooks are also available on the AEA Website, at www.aea-emu.org.

For more information about the Emu Mall or the AEA National Convention, contact the Wisconsin Emu Association (WIEA) at 866-608-8224 or check out their web site at www.wiea-emu.org.

The American Emu Association is a non-profit trade association representing the emu industry. The emu industry is an alternative agricultural industry, dominated by the small farmer, who is devoted to humane and environmentally positive practices that will produce beneficial products for society. For more information about the American Emu Association (AEA) or the emu industry visit http://www.aea-emu.org or call 541-332-0675.