From Mexico to Pakistan, food is on peoples' minds. Riots have broken out in Cameroon, Senegal and other places where the thin line between making ends meet and going hungry has grown thinner.

In the United States, people are paying more at the grocery store, but those who cannot absorb the price increases have had to turn in ever increasing numbers to charity for help.

The Meriden Food Pantry is serving close to 200 people a day this year, said President Joann Dahlquist. It is open Monday through Friday for lunch.

The number of meals it has served yearly dropped from 36,053, or 138 meals a day, in 1992, to 30,230, or 116 a day, in 2007.

If the pantry serves about 200 meals a day for the remainder of the year, it will have served roughly 52,000 meals by the end of 2008.

"We will take anything anybody wants to give us," Dahlquist said. Though donations have been generous in the past, the kitchen is in need of more food, she said.

The reasons behind the price hike in food are varied. The rising cost of oil is making transportation of food more expensive, adding on to the final price the consumer pays.

Meanwhile, millions of people are buying more food in the developing economies of China and India as their paychecks grow. Developing countries are also starting to eat more meat, and meat production is inefficient.

At the same time, a series of regional natural disasters, like the February floods in Ecuador that destroyed the banana crop of a large portion of the country, have further driven up prices.

The Southington Community Services food bank also has noticed an increase in demand.

In May 2006, 86 households were picking up food there, said Lori Stafstrom, community services aide. In March 2008, 229 households were coming.

Though the pantry still has food on the shelves to offer, Stafstrom said the variety of the supply is diminished. Southington residents have been generous in their donations, but the big season for giving, the winter holidays, has passed and more food is welcome, she said.

People "still need the food, but the donations don't really match," Stafstrom said.

On May 10, the National Association of Letter Carriers will conduct the 16th annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive. Stafstrom and Dahlquist said that they are hoping for wide participation to refresh their food supply.

Residents are asked to bag nonperishable food items and set them by their mailboxes for pickup by the letter carriers.

Workers at the Wallingford-Meriden Red Cross food pantry operating out of Wallingford have noticed that the type of people coming for food is broadening.

Along with single-parent families and the disabled, retired people and families with two working parents are also starting to need help.

A number of regular donors have kept up with the food demand, said Judy Namnoum, community services coordinator, so the Red Cross hasn't had to reduce its food allotments as the number of families has risen from 105 to 120 over the last six months. "We've never had to turn anybody away," she said.

The Connecticut Food Bank, from which many local food banks get a portion of their supply, receives most of its donations from large corporations or supermarkets that have excess or slightly damaged foods, said Executive Director Nancy Carrington.

The food bank has to pay to ship the food, however, and the increased price of diesel is driving up costs, she said.

"Knowing that all of us are being impacted by rising food costs, I hope people will be able to keep in mind those that are less fortunate than they are," Carrington said.

Anyone interested in donating to the Meriden Soup Kitchen can drop off nonperishable food at the First Baptist Church, 460 Broad St., weekdays from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help unload food from the letter carriers food drive May 10.

Donations can be dropped off at the Southington Community Services food bank at Town Hall, 75 Main St., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except for a lunch break about noon. Call ahead at (860) 276-6271.