Bench-tops that turn into convection cooking tops. Weight scales that measure and guide you through the ingredient inclusions. Fridges that talk to your pantry and then let you know what you have and need and order what you don’t and 3D printers that print food ready for you to eat, were all part of a #FutureKitchens chat I had with Sonya Feldhoff of ABC Adelaide.

Most listeners emails and SMS’s erred on the side of a step to far and not in my kitchen, but these are the same people who said they would never own or use a microwave.

Printing of food in our kitchens for most of us, is about 5 – 10 years, but chocolates, cakes and sweets are already being printed with pizza not far behind and coming to a NASA space station near us, this year.

There seems to be a panic driven push-back but many things are and will conspire to make the kitchen of the future and even 3D printed foods seem ordinary.

Firstly we love our kitchen gadgets and devices and they invariably always sell well.

Secondly the Internet of Things which will connect all our inanimate objects are on the cusp of becoming ordinary, with Samsung announcing only last month that every device they sell by 2020 will be capable of connectivity.

Thirdly, the reality that many of our future homes will be built smaller and it will be imperative that every inch will be capable of multitasking and multipurpose.

And lastly, that we will have to feed 2 billion more people by 2050.

Our answer to this kitchen and food evolution is, as always, not to denounce and pillory the uncomfortable and uncertain, but rather to become informed and make considered decisions.

Gadgets and devices are one element of this, printing of food is another.

The debate must be had and because we can is not the reason that something like 3D printed foods must be.

For the sick, those not able or willing to cook, for developing nations, nations with little or no farmable land and those that may not have ready access to food supplies, perhaps 3D food printing is a reasonable alternative worth considering.

Should it and will it replace all growing of foods or cooking of foods, absolutely not. But perhaps it is a reasonable addition to the continuum of possibilities where food is not readily available? Well, that’s the debate we have to have, so let’s have it now.

Have a listen to the segment and then let me know your thoughts (17 minutes).