The Florida penal system has a problem — a surge of requests for kosher meals from residents behind bars.

The state stopped serving religiously-compliant food seven years ago but was ordered to reinstate it by the United States Department of Justice, which said that prisoners would otherwise be denied their religious rights.

According to the New York Times, the state had received more than 4,400 orders for supervised jail meals by this week, with many non-Jewish prisoners believing a kosher plate more preferable.

You can see why the increase sticks in the authorities’ throat. “The cost of religious meals is four times as much as the standard fare,” Michael Crewe secretary of the state’s Department of Corrections was reported as saying.