The "eat local food" movement is really growing on Pittsburgh.

	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Sean P. Minahan, executive chef at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, checks sage in a planter on the center's roof deck. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Farm to Table: Local is good Her message about nutrition goes against grain Chefs share recipes

It's growing on the roof of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and soon will grow inside that building in a new greenhouse.

And those locally and sustainably grown herbs and vegetables are going to be served to diners there as well as, for the first time this baseball season, across the river at PNC Park.

"It's another way for us to be creative," says the convention center's executive chef, Sean Minahan, who, as does new PNC Park executive chef Matt Roach, works for Levy Restaurants.

That company is one of the exhibitors at Saturday's Farm to Table Conference, a celebration of the health and other benefits of eating local.

Mr. Minahan, who will be on hand, will tell people that one big benefit is the stuff tastes good.

A Pittsburgh native who went from the Carlton to work for Levy properties around the country for 20 years, Mr. Minahan moved back here, to Cranberry, and couldn't believe how close he lives to so many farms.

About two years ago he started buying some products from local farmers markets -- enough to sprinkle into the huge feeds they do at the center -- and, "You could see people's eyes light up with delight."

So he kept pushing it, buying more from local and Pennsylvania farms. He went so far as the center's roof deck, where last year he and co-workers ripped out some dead ornamental plants from big concrete planters. They planted 30 to 40 herb plants -- basil, rosemary, two types of sage, chives -- even watermelon.

"Everything took off," he says, re-enacting his happy surprise. "We were taking stuff out of there all year long" -- and putting it in pots and on plates below. "And we actually grew a watermelon. We were very proud of ourselves."

This year, with his colleague Mr. Roach hungry to use some of the crop at PNC Park, Mr. Minahan plans to expand his urban farm from three 12-foot-long planters to 11 of them. He wants to grow new plants, too, perhaps even grape tomatoes.

After all, the convention center is a certified "green building."

That's why its operator, the Sports & Exhibition Authority, also was open to adding a greenhouse for growing more stuff in a sunny corner of the fourth floor.

Mr. Minahan says plans are being finalized for the hydroponic greenhouse, which will be run by the Allegheny East Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center. The group also provides training and employment to people with disabilities at a hydroponic greenhouse at the Yough River Trail Gardens in Buena Vista. Allegheny East Specialty Produce just harvested its first crops in January and is having an open house June 7, says the group's director of development and marketing, Kate Bayer.

"We couldn't be more excited" about growing the business into the convention center, she says.

In that greenhouse, which could be operating by late this year, Mr. Minahan wants to grow baby arugula and sprouts, treats he can't easily get at area farms.

Mr. Minahan serves so many tons of food, he can't make it all local. So he picks his shots, using herbs and other local items in ways that stand out to the eyes and the palate. "A little bit can go a long way, especially if it's good stuff."

Convention center menus now often give the provenance of these items -- "Garnished with Sweet Pea Tendrils, Puckerbush Farm, Shelocta, Pa." -- because that's appealing to people, too. "In our business, it's all about that little extra detail."

At PNC Park, don't expect pea tendrils on your hotdog, but Mr. Roach does plan some fanciful local fare for a Chef's Harvest Table at the park's Lexus Club.

Who knows? As Mr. Minahan can vouch, sometimes you just plant something and see what happens.