In an exciting new development, Systems and Materials Research Corporation has just won a $125,000 grant from NASA for their work in food technology. Their winning idea? The capability to use 3-D printers to make food.

The technology was born out of a confluence of necessity and timing. 3-D printing has become a very popular subject lately, and it comes at a time when food scarcity is becoming a legitimate point of concern for much of the world.

"I think, and many economists think, that current food systems can't supply 12 billion people sufficiently," says inventor Anjan Contractor, of Systems and Materials Research Corporation. "So we eventually have to change our perception of what we see as food."

So what has Systems and Materials Research Corporation done to revolutionize food? They have broken food down to its most essential ingredients, and by doing so, intend to create an easy way to make nutritious "food."

"If you're male, female, someone is sick -- they all have different dietary needs. If you can program your needs into a 3D printer, it can print exactly the nutrients that person requires," Contractor said.

The first food they will attempt to make is one that seems most agreeable to a 3-D printer, pizza. With its easy-to-assemble layers, printing out a 3-D pizza seems to be feasible. Already, Contractor and his company have successfully printed out chocolate as a proof of concept that in part won them the grant money. 

"Instead of eating a quarter of a donut to cut calories, you instead might be able to buy a whole pastry from the corner deli, then watch the donut 3-D printed before your eyes -- with one-fourth the calories and just the right amount of fiber to bring you up to your daily minimum," the Huffington Post's Bianca Bosker writes.

As if the possibilities for food production on planet Earth weren't enough, the company is setting its sights even higher. They believe that one day very soon, 3-D printed food could become integral to successful, long-term space missions.

"Long distance space travel requires 15-plus years of shelf life," says Contractor. "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."