How 3D Printed Food Can Change the Way We Look at Eating

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3D printing is one of the most flexible manufacturing methods we have on the market. Compared to traditional production means like CNC and injection molding, 3D printing is relatively affordable, and flexible, which gives users a level of freedom that was impossible to have in the past decades. Thermoplastics are the most popular material used in 3D printing, but it looks like they might have competition.

The amount of freedom 3D printing grants its users garnered the interest of some researchers and inspired them to use these devices for food production. By mimicking FDM 3D printer’s extrusion system and software that is similar to slicers used in 3D printing, making multi-material meals is now a possibility.

The technology is still in its infancy, but it’s hard to deny its potential. Jonathan Blutinger of Columbian University thinks the software element can change how we look at food and inform us about our eating habits and taste preferences. Creating an ecosystem based on eating is the current goal and can create a new concept like smart eating. But 3D printed food is not here to replace traditional cooking but to be an alternative method of eating that can have its own special uses in the future.

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"shut up and eat your bug paste and 3d printed goop. this is the future"

Tank

As a way to make ingredients is pretty cool and to find new creative ways to assemble a plate for example. But never a whole meal, cooking is valuable in cultural identity

hotarukaleidos

Some things like cooking is a sacred right and a privilege..

tonicalloway

food is not processed enough, let's find ways to make it even more artificial and processed. the vegans will love it.

josea.r.avelino

This is almost like a George Jetson's on the Jetson's meet Just and his boy Elroy lol I loved the Jetson's!!

mistyjudge-cardwell

An interesting concept, albeit with a very uncanny feeling to it. Personally, I'd be curious enough to try it out at least (assuming I ever get the chance). However, if it can't nail taste, texture, and cost compared to the real thing, then I think it'll be long ways off before anyone actually gives this idea a shot outside of niche/expensive area's like airports where they'll be treated more as a spectacle than an actual eatery. And that's not to mention the further processing of the already unhealthy, shitty foods with exaggerated marketing, borderline false advertisings and half-truths.

Though, IF the role of 3D Food Printers was to be so critical to our society lets say ~50 years from now to the point of being as omnipresent as microwaves or refrigerators, then I believe it'd be best suited for small roles in the creation of foods like cookies, or decorations of foods like with birthday cakes. It would help to bring a new twist to traditional cooking, but not outright replace it. And I think that would be the best way to balance technology like this. Of course, Food companies would probably implement this shit to replace workers outright, but it's not hard to imagine that small businesses will still provide that 'human' element that makes food much more enjoyable. I mean lets be fair, buying food in the middle of the night from a 50 y.o. greasy dude when you're all alone is creepy, but hearing the mechanical whirring of a machine serving you food with no one in sight is just downright dystopian.

sleepy_yuu