Did the bandits know?
 

Maybe I missed it in the game, but I can't recall if it is ever said whether the bandits knew the St. John brother's were supplying them with human meat.

Jolene was obviously in the know, but she was no longer with the bandits at that point. Did the others know as well?

Unless the game states otherwise I'd guess 'no,' because I can't imagine the bandits entering into an arrangement with the St. John brothers when the bandits could have obtained their own 'meat' if they were cool with cannibalism. I'm guessing the bandits were duped by the St. Johns and thought they were being supplied with pork.

They never mentioned them knowing it, so probably not.

I'm sure it was mentioned somewhere, I heard a bandit say "This is what those stupid dairy farmers have done to us!" and I assume it means that they discovered they were being traded human meat.

And someone else said in the forums that they heard one of the bandits mention 'bad meat' and everyone assumed they meant that the quantity of meat was bad, but I think they were talking about the CONTENT of the meat, not the QUALITY.

I imagine the bandits were too preoccupied with their internal politics and assorted bullying of outsiders to care about what's in the food.

Did it ever occur to anyone that the bandits might have been supplying the St Johns with "meat" in exchange for food made of grains, vegetables and dairy?

Or perhaps the bandits were so angry with the St. John's because they found out. Regardless it's quite obvious they knew because Jolene was aware of it.

"Tell 'em boy, tell 'em what you've got in store for-"

some weird thoughts came through my head...

I've always thought this. The St. Johns would set the traps but surely the Bandits would hear the people get caught in the traps. I think the bandits would take the people caught in the traps to the St Johns then they would get vegetables and dairy from the farm.

I think the bandits are too unruly to comply with something like that. They would probably kill the St. Johns and take their food rather than be tasked with bringing the caught humans back to them. I think they'd respond with arrows and guns rather than agreeing to do all that labor.

And yet.. the bandits and the St Johns "did" have a deal of some kind that didn't involve the bandits killing them. :p

But that deal doesn't involve the bandits having to do anything. The St. Johns deliver food and they don't get killed, that was the gist of it.

I don't seem to remember it being that simple.

Granted it has been a while since I played episode 2......

Nah. The bandits were pissed off that the St. John's weren't supplying them with food anymore. Which implies that they didn't know. After Jolene was raped and her daughter was taken into the woods and presumably killed, she split with the bandits. She herself found out that the St. John's were supplying human meat.

Unless of course my theory is correct, and they were just trading one form of "food" for another.