On Fri, 14 Nov 1997, Mary wrote:

> How much pemmican do you think it is healthy to eat?

Native Americans and French traders seemed to use it for extended
periods without ill effects.

> But how much is too much? I am making about a pound a day. It has gotten rid
> of  his constant starvation, he used to ask for food every hour on the hour,
> now his stomach seems more satisfied.

So why worry?  If he's tolerating it well, go with it for a
while.

> What other meats could I use? Like if I was going to do turkey or chicken,
> how would I do it? Or other meats? What kind of suet would I use for turkey,
> I assume there is no turkey suet.

You could use other dried meats with the beef suet.  Game meats
such as venison would also be "authentic".  The basic procedure
should be the same, though.  Something tells me the turkey might
want a bit more seasoning, but that's just a guess.

> To what extent did hunter gatherers rely on pemmican, how much of their diet
> was it? And I wonder how they dried it in cold climates or rainy  climates??

Since pemmican is a technology-dependent food (needs fire), it
has not been eaten for ages and ages.  You can sun-dry the meats,
but rendering the tallow requires fire.  I imagine that Native
Americans supplemented the pemmican with whatever vegetable food
they could gather.  I would be inclined to do the same, if
possible.

> Also, I am planning to take a train trip with my son, am planning to take
> pemmican, what else would be good paleo foods to take?

Does he eat nuts?  They are portable and generally pretty
satisfying.  If you worry about non-paleo peanuts, some homemade
trail mix of paleo-correct nuts and dried fruit should travel
well with the pemmican.  Walnuts, almonds, dates, etc.  I think
you could live a long time on that combination.

Todd Moody
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