For those of you out there who love food, the concept of “food of the future” may be a whole lot closer than you think.

While we mentioned 3D printed food back in September when we were discussing NASA’s plans to send a 3D printer to space, at that point, we hadn’t seen much in the way of real, edible food that had been printed.

Fast forward to today, and the innovation in the food of the future is happening way faster than we ever imagined it would. See that photo of the Oreo attached to this article? Well, that’s 3D printed (the filling, that is). At this year’s South by Southwest conference, Oreo opened up a booth and invited patrons in to print their own Oreos and really taste the future of food ().

As an article in  notes, we do have a long way to go before 3D printed food is really viable. Even so, we’re getting closer and closer every day–an executive of a snack company said at SXSW that “people are printing steaks right now”–and examples like Oreo’s 3D printed filling are only one of the many places that the food of the future is speculated to come from.

? Soylent, a full-on food replacement drink, and Beyond Meat, an “animal protein replacement company.” All around the world, companies are working to develop alternatives to current foods that are more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. Those 3D printed steaks that look tasty may not be so far away after all.

Even though there are many companies working towards the food of the future, it seems clear that 3D printing technology ought to be in contention for one of the most revolutionary future sources of food. Will manufacturing technology continue to be a source of food for future generations? Hard to say. But in the mean time, you definitely won’t hear us complaining about our 3D printed Oreos.

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