Pemmican, an endurance food: Past and present.

Pemmican is a meat product principally comprised of dried meat and fat that has served as a source of sustenance in cold, harsh climates and/or a means of preservation of meat for some Indigenous peoples, fur traders, polar explorers, military and police. Pemmican is acclaimed for its high nutrient density and long shelf life. However, for a meat product that has historically played a significant role and is often cited as the ultimate endurance food, there is a surprising paucity of scientific literature. The present study aims to review the literature to document the history of pemmican, its preparation, nutritional evaluation and additional use in the diet of animals. In view of food security and crisis situations in the world today, meat science may have a role to play in reviving, reformulating and potentially developing new processing strategies for a product like pemmican as a culturally appropriate food, with extended use as emergency provisions or for endurance athletes.

Historical Indigenous Food Preparation Using Produce of the Three Sisters Intercropping System.

For centuries, some Indigenous Peoples of the Americas have planted corn, beans and squash or pumpkins together in mounds, in an intercropping complex known as the Three Sisters. Agriculturally, nutritionally and culturally, these three crops are complementary. This literature review aims to compile historical foods prepared from the products of the Three Sisters planting system used in Indigenous communities in the region encompassing southern Quebec and Ontario in Canada, and northeastern USA. The review does not discuss cultural aspects of the Three Sisters cropping system or describe foods specific to any one Indigenous group, but rather, gives an overview of the historical foods stemming from this intercropping system, many foods of which are common or similar from one group to another. Some of the methods of food preparation used have continued over generations, some of the historical foods prepared are the foundation for foods we eat today, and some of both the methods and foods are finding revival.