A satirical skit in the cable-television comedy "Portlandia" has a couple in a restaurant who, after asking a long series of questions about the chicken the eatery serves, leaves to visit the farm at which the chicken was raised, wanting to see the fowls' living conditions before committing to order a meal.

Spokane-area diners aren't likely to go to that extreme, but in select instances, it is an option. Some Inland Northwest restaurants are getting produce, meat, and other food from nearby farmers and ranchers. While some restaurateurs report challenges involved with buying from local food producers, those who do so regularly say the result is healthy, better-quality meals.

For small farms or ranchers, supplying restaurants with goods can be a healthy part of their book of business.

"It's important," says Gary Angell, owner of Rocky Ridge Ranch, which is north of Reardan, Wash., about 40 miles northwest of Spokane. "One restaurant can make a big difference for two or three local farms."

Angell says Sante Restaurant & Chareuterie is one such difference maker for Rocky Ridge. He says the three-year-old downtown Spokane establishment buys about half the hogs Rocky Ridge raises each year and a significant portion of its beef, eggs, and vegetables. The 400-acre ranch also raises some lamb and ducks, and Sante takes those on occasion as well.

"If more restaurants did what Sante does, they would be helping a small farm and the local economy," Angell says.

Sante owner Jeremy Hansen says an average of about 75 percent of the food the restaurant uses comes from local sources. In the summer and early fall, when local produce is plentiful, that percentage can peak at around 95 percent, he says. In the winter, it dips to about half.

He says the restaurant receives some products year-round, such as meats from Rocky Ridge and flour from Shepherd's Grain, which is about 60 miles west of Spokane, near Harrington, Wash. With fruits and vegetables, the eatery's employees pick some themselves at Greenbluff or select them at farmer's markets. In some cases, though, Hansen says growers will stop by the restaurant with berries, mushrooms, or other produce to sell, and in some cases, he'll buy it on the spot.

"It's a business, of course, but it's about the philosophy," Hansen says. "What I'm trying to do is develop a good system, and the way we're doing things is going well."

But it isn't always that simple.

Raci Erdem, a restaurateur who owns The White House Grill and The Oval Office restaurants in Post Falls and The West Wing on Spokane's South Hill through separate corporations, says he has tried to buy food supplies locally. After a few attempts, he has given up on the idea and says he isn't likely to try it again.

Prior to opening to The West Wing late last year, Erdem had tried to buy all of the garlic and fresh herbs used at the Mediterranean restaurants from local farmers. Known for using garlic liberally in their dishes, the restaurants went through garlic faster than the farmers could produce it.

Also, Erdem says, the three restaurants currently use 300 pounds of garlic a week and need to get it as cheaply as they can.

"Almost every month we get approached by the local farmers," Erdem says. "It's not cost effective. No local buying."

Angell says price can be a bone of contention between a local farmer and a restaurant operator, and while he has sold to Spokane-area restaurants in addition to Sante - Wild Sage American Bistro and the Mission Bistro specifically - he stopped marketing to restaurants for a while because it appeared to be fruitless. He says an operation like Rocky Ridge Ranch typically can't compete pricewise with a large food distributor.

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'We want to buy from you, but you're going to have to bid,'" he says. "That doesn't work with a farm our size."

He adds, "Most of them practice tokenism. They say they want to buy local, but most want to beat you down on price."

Mizuna restaurant owner Michael Jones says that downtown Spokane establishment pays $12 to $13 a pound for the same cuts of meat a consumer could find on sale at a supermarket for about half that price. All of the meat it uses is organic, though, and he says likening organic meat to conventional cuts found in a supermarket is an apples-to-oranges comparison.

"It's a better quality product," Jones says. "When you put it on the plate, you can tell the difference, at least enough people can."

Started as an all-vegetarian restaurant, Mizuna added some meat dishes a few years ago, though it still offers an extensive vegetarian menu. Jones says Mizuna emphasizes buying organic over buying local—the ranches from which it buys most of its organic pork and beef are in southern Idaho and in northern California, respectively. That said, the restaurant does buy an extensive amount of its produce from Jackson Farm, of Spokane Valley.

Each spring, Jones says, he sits down with Dan Jackson, of Jackson Farm, and goes through seed magazines, determining what the farm will grow that season for the restaurant and generally how much the product will cost.

Typically, Jones says, the farm provides produce to the restaurant from June through the following January, and at peak times - August and September - the farm produces about half of the fruits and vegetables the restaurant uses.

With organic fruits and vegetables, Jones says, the prices Mizuna pays to Jackson Farm are comparable to organic produce prices from a conventional supplier. Buying directly from the farmer, he adds, is less expensive than shopping at a farmer's market.

Hansen says some products simply can't be produced locally, the most obvious being seafood. He says he tries to stay in the Northwest if food isn't available locally.

In the future, he says, he'd like to see more Inland Northwest farmers develop greenhouses so they can grow through the winter months—and provide more products year-round.

"Spokane should be a mecca for farm-to-table food," he says.