On the Menu: Dinner From a 3-D Printer

Someday, hungry troops in the field could reach for a three-dimensional printer instead of a box of meals-ready-to-eat. At the U.S. Army Natick (Mass.) Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, researchers are delving into the possibility of using 3-D printers to produce food on demand. “It could reduce costs because it could eventually be used to produce food on demand,” said Mary Scerra, a technologist at Natick. “For example, you would like a sandwich, where I would like ravioli. You would print what you want and eliminate wasted food.” Commercial food suppliers, such as candy-makers, already use 3-D printers to assist production.