Was there a purpose to the different colours or did they just like to give the illusion of variety?

( for him it had been a choice of paste or bars, usually. a mix of veg-meat and polystarch that didn't do much but take the edge off.

as a result he'd become a fair to decent hunter. not that that helped him much here. )

I have. There's a place on the riverfront that offers it that's relatively affordable.