Scottish prisoners want kosher meals, believing they are ‘nicer’

More than 100 inmates in a Scottish prison sign up to receive kosher meals, despite the fact that there were officially nine Jewish prisoners in Scottish jails from 2013-1014.

An official at Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire in Scotland says the prison must provide the kosher meals to the prisoners if they claim to have converted to Judaism, according to the London-based Jewish Chronicle.

“Where previously we have always had a very minimal Jewish prison population we have seen a huge rise,” says prison spokesman Tom Fox.

Prison officials believe the inmates think the kosher meals are “nicer.”

“I don’t think the prisoners themselves understand the preparation that has to go into providing a kosher meal,” Fox adds.

The meals are outsourced since the prison does not have a kosher kitchen. The meals cost much more than regular prison fare.

— JTA