Welcome to Providence Pastures Farm!

We are an Old-Fashioned Family Farm, located on 150 acres nestled in a beautiful valley at the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in Northwestern Pennsylvania (about 30 miles SE of Lake Erie).

Over the past decade, we've done a lot of research on nutrition, the food supply and health as we worked to become self- sufficient in providing healthy, tasty food for our own growing family.

What we've learned is that our grandparents had the right idea when they either raised their own food or bought it from a local farm! We started out homesteading; big family garden a few chickens for eggs and meat and a family milk cow. During these early years we came to realize that there is nothing like sitting down to a home cooked meal consisting only of naturally grown, fresh foods!

Our deep satisfaction with this way of life and a growing public interest in our natural, local foods led us to buy our farm in 2002, allowing us the privilege of sharing with others what we've been enjoying -- food the way God intended it to be -- all natural and chemical-free. Not only does it taste great, it's good for you, too!

Use the menu items on the left to explore our farm, our products and to educate yourself about the importance of good, natural, locally raised foods to your health, the local economy, and the environment.

Thanks for stopping by and please check back often as we update this page with news, the latest nutrition research and product updates.

Michael and Vicki Pasterik and family

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. -- Robert Frost

New State Regulations

Act 106 of 2010
Raising the Bar for Food Safety in Pennsylvania

On Nov. 23, 2010, Act 106 of 2010 was enacted, which clarifies and strengthens oversight of food safety inspections for all retail food facilities, or restaurants and retail food stores, by amending the 1945 Public Eating and Drinking Place Act and the 1994 Food Act. Consumer food safety will be greatly enhanced by the implementation of this Act, which updates current food safety laws to reflect modern food science, eliminates duplication of inspections, provides for uniform inspection and addresses other deficiencies in the current food safety laws. The new law takes effect Jan. 22, 2011.

With these new regulations in place we can no longer sell individual cuts of meat nor even eggs from our on-farm store without first filing a Retail Plan Review application, passing an inspection, paying an annual licensing fee and one of us must complete a Food Safety Manager Certification. We are still sorting out the new rules, requirements and fees. So far it looks like about $300 to get started, and in order to sell at any farmers markets in addition to our farm store, we may need to either close the farm store while we are at a farmer's market or pay for two licenses and certifications. And then there is the question of selling in Erie County, we may need another license from the Erie Count Health Department (again with fees and inspections). So while we sort all this out, we will not be retailing any of our products to avoid the risk of this: "Penalties for non-compliance have been increased to up to $300 for criminal penalties and up to $10,000 for civil penalties."

With the new regulations and definitions you are no longer buying from a farm, you are buying from a "Food Retailer" who just happens to have a store at a farm or farmer's market. To complicate things more the Federal Government passed the Food Safety & Modernization Act which may replace, modify or compliment the State's new rules.

Our breeding stock and feeder pig sales are not affected by these new regulations.