Hi Anju - if you go to Paleolithic Eating Support List's Recipe
you'll find some info on pemmican under the Dried Meats link:
http://www.panix.com/~paleodiet/list/

[ I guess the real question is, is there a way to reconcile the two
issues?
[ I've heard and seen stuff about free-range that attests to the fact
that
[ it is usually bullshit, but is it always? Surely there are farms out
[ there that allow their chickens to actually roam around in lots of
open
[ space, and organic dairy farms that really treat their animals well,
etc.

I live in Calgary, the bastion of Alberta Beef Country. People around
these here parts drive around with bumper stickers that read "I love
Alberta beef." Enough said.

The literature on the farms I'm checking out describe the conditions
in which their animals are raised. Chickens are typically kept in
portable pens that are moved daily in organically-certified fields
where they have access to sunshine and food that suits them. Of
course they're confined and can't run around freely but it beats the
dark crammed cages found in the typical commercial operation.

These farms are quite a distance away from Calgary and I'll have to
settle for their frozen samples at the local health food store.

There are also operations that offer free range bison, and that
appeals to me right now, thinly sliced bison meat and wasabi!