For the past six years, the urban research nonprofit Terreform has carefully considered exactly what New York City would look like if everything New Yorkers ate was grown inside city limits.

“At some level, it’s absurd,” says Michael Sorkin, who leads Terreform. “We discovered that with intense use of vertical agriculture and a change in diet, we could in fact physically provide the facilities to grow 2,500 decent calories for every resident in New York. But the energy estimates were so enormous we estimated that 25 nuclear power plants would be required.”

Amsterdam Ave.

Still, even if cities don’t necessarily become giant farms, the research can help point urban areas toward more sustainable choices. The researchers also looked at options for growing all food within 100 miles of the city, or growing everything within the state. “We looked at 100% autonomy–what effort that would take, what forms, what living arrangements–and we then look for some more reasonable response,” Sorkin says.

The research is part of a larger project called New York City (Steady) State, which will eventually detail how the city can be entirely self-sufficient, from energy to waste. It’s intended as a counterpoint to things like ecological footprints, which generically measure environmental impact. Here, the researchers are looking at specific and direct impacts in a confined area.

“It’s a matter of taking responsibility for one’s effects on the planet,” Sorkin says. New York is a good place to start because New Yorkers, as Americans, are enormous consumers.”

Why look at consumption on the level of the city? “Nation-states seem to be incompetent, and multi-nationals seem to be badly motivated,” he says. “As an urbanist, I wanted to know what a city could actually accomplish if it decided to truly take responsibility.”

Sunnyside, Queens site

The design includes everything from a skyscraper devoted to meat production (though Sorkin notes that it would be a lot easier, sustainability-wise, if everyone in the city became vegan), to rooftop “neighborhood food hubs” and streets that are turned into gardens.