In 0.56, a new bar appears beneath the choices: . If you starve the Elder, you lose the Water Sourcing blueprint forever. If you starve the Mother, the Collective Sanity buff becomes a Collective Despair debuff (-5 Sanity to all).
The log updates. A small flavor text appears, new to 0.56: “The Community looks at you. Not with gratitude. With calculation. They have seen you choose who lives. Now they know you are willing to cut.” Straitened Times Version 0.56
You do not know if that is a good sign anymore. Straitened Times Version 0.56