rimworld
I am having trouble with food as I have hoppers (directly next to a nutrient paste dispenser) that are filled with food, but when my colonists go to eat they take the food out of the hoppers instead of eating nutrient paste.
I am powering my paste dispenser.
In order to feed your prisoners, you have to have a colonist assigned to the Warden task.
Once you have someone tasked with being a Warden, they will automatically take care of the prisoner; whether they're feeding them, or executing them.
The food icon in the top left is, essentially, banked food. Your colonists cannot directly eat that. The only way to access banked food is to use a Nutrient Paste Dispenser. If you don't have access to one of those (Solar flare, power issues), you will need to harvest plants such that there is food lying on the ground for the colonists to eat.
Best Answer
1.) The hopper must be facing the correct direction. The side of the hopper that must face the dispenser is the wider side without the black line on the texture (the open side).
2.) It may simply be a glitch in the AI or a general bug, as the game is early in development - especially when this was asked.