The hope is to ultimately develop a 3D printed food system for long duration space missions, as NASA’s current food system doesn’t meet the nutritional needs and five-year shelf life required for a mission to Mars and other faraway destinations. Although the project will take several years, researchers are hoping that 3D printing will one day be able to assure nutritional sustainability for NASA crews.
The study is being spearheaded by Anjan Contractor, a mechanical engineer with a background in 3D printing. “Long distance space travel requires 15-plus years of shelf life,” Contractor told Quartz. “The way we are working on it is, all the carbs, proteins and macro and micro nutrients are in powder form. We take moisture out, and in that form it will last maybe 30 years.”
The food printer uses cartridges of powders and oils to create layer-by-layer three-dimensional food. Contractor believes that kitchens will one day have 3D printers so that people can feed themselves nutritious, customized meals created one layer at a time from cartridges of powders and oils.
He sees this as a surefire way to end food waste and world hunger. “Current food systems can’t supply 12 billion people sufficiently,” he adds. So, as the world population continues to climb, he cautions that people must be open to alternative methods of food production.
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“We have to produce as much food in the next 40 years as we have in the last 8,000,” said Jason Clay, Senior Vice President for Market Transformation at the World Wildlife Fund. “By 2050 we’re going to have to produce twice as much food as we do today. We need to find a way to do this more sustainably.
The biggest threat to the planet is to continue producing food in a business-as-usual fashion.” Clay doesn’t think that 3D printing for food can become a reality fast enough to help the 800 million people worldwide who are food insecure, but it could be one promising step. As scientific breakthroughs continue to be made, future technology will be created to find a way to make things possible.
Ultimately, though, the feasibility of food production through 3D printing hinges upon economic issues. As a writer from TIME asked, “How affordable would sophisticated food printing technology be? How would you get one into every household? How much would these base materials cost to harvest and manufacture? What would prices for them translate to at the grocery store?”
Although some have estimated that 3D food printers could be in kitchens within 15 years, it will likely take much longer for the trend to become a societal norm. For now, though, Contractor is optimistic about the possibility of 3D printed food and downright excited about its potential to positively impact society.
Peter JonesAbout the Author:
Peter Jones blogs about science and technology.