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It's bad enough when gasoline prices go up, but at least you can try to drive less.

It's a shot in the gut when food prices rise - and it affects almost everyone.

Attleboro resident Brian McCormick laments climbing food prices, a development he says makes him feel like he doesn't "have as much buying power."

"There's not much you can do about it," he said. "Everything is creeping up."

Food prices rose 2.4 percent from 2005 to 2006, and the Agriculture Department said in a report last month it expects prices to climb an additional 3 to 4 percent over the course of the year. In April alone, food prices shot up 3.7 percent from the same period last year, the agency reported.

And prices were up across the board, except for butter, which the Agriculture Department said fell 5.1 percent from a year before.

City resident Jack King, a retiree, says these days he can't afford to buy as many deli products, such as meats and cheeses.

"It hurts older people more," he said. "We don't have as much income, or are on a fixed-income, and have to buy less to make ends meet. We can't afford to splurge on food."

The Agriculture Department says the cost of beef is up 4.7 percent, pork is up 0.7 percent and poultry has climbed 4.6 percent.

Officials blame the rising price of corn, which increasingly is being diverted for ethanol production as a fuel additive. Like a toppling row of dominoes, high corn prices translate into higher prices for meat because feed prices have gone up. Of course, it also has an impact on cereal and bread, which in April rose 4.5 percent from the same period last year.

"Anybody that knows anything about the marketing of corn knows that when you raise the price of corn, you are going to create problems in all of the markets that use corn," said Ronald W. Cotterill, director of the Food Marketing Policy Center at the University of Connecticut.

Though the increases may seem hard to swallow, Americans have been relatively fortunate when it comes to food prices, spending only about 10 percent of disposable personal income on food. That expense was more than 20 percent in 1951, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But now some economists and analysts say the corn price increase could combine with other factors - poor weather and soaring energy costs - to unsettle the food industry, since corn products are used not just to feed animals but also in high-fructose corn syrup, the sweetener of choice for such products as soft drinks and cookies.

Local resident Betty Miller said she believes people will start to go to wholesale food markets to whittle down their weekly food bill. "I'm paying more each week," she said. Food prices "seem to take off with the least little thing."

Local resident Ray Timmons blames grocery stores.

"They need more money. They expect us to pay their rising bills for them," he said.

Jessica Jewett says she has noticed prices have gone up the most on staples.

"It's things they know people need, so they can raise the prices," she said.

Some of the steepest price increases have been for fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Agriculture Department reported fruit prices rose 6.1 percent in April, compared with the same period a year ago. The price of apples shot up 14.7 percent and oranges were up 20.1 percent.

Fresh vegetables rose 8.1 percent over the course of a year.

Other price increases included dairy, 2.5 percent; sugar and candy, 2.9 percent; juice and non-soda drinks, 1.5 percent; and coffee, 4.9 percent.

Norman Sandborn of Attleboro reflected on past years, saying prices always go up.

"It hurts everybody," he said. "But, you have to do the best you can."