The interest in locally grown edibles isn't just a foodie obsession. Pittsburgh artists Ann Rosenthal, Suzy Meyer and Steffi Domike looked into the amounts of energy required to deliver locally, nationally and internationally grown food to your table, and the numbers were eye-opening.

They've turned that information into an installation artwork, "Food, Carbon & the Commons," that's part of the exhibition "6 BILLION PERPS HELD HOSTAGE! Artists Address Global Warming," opening at The Andy Warhol Museum March 11.

The wider the distribution area, the more food options are available, exhibition curator Matt Wrbican observes. "But at what cost to the environment?"

The artists make the point visually. On one wall, for example, are 60 foam-core hexagons approximately 16 inches on a side onto which images of a cabbage were silk-screened, Wrbican says. The image sharpness varies according to the amount of carbon produced during the planting-to-market cycle. Those representing locally grown foods are clear and bright, Wrbican says, while the nationally grown are (carbon) grayed over, and the internationally grown are almost indistinguishable from their backgrounds.

The artists have designed a menu that features locally grown foods, copies of which will be available for visitors to take home.

The exhibition continues through June 17 (412-237-8300 or www.warhol.org).

-- Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette art critic