Be prepared to dig a bit deeper into your pockets in the weeks and months ahead because food prices for a family of four are expected to increase more than $4 a week this year, according to an analysis by an Upper Saddle River-based trade association.

Meat prices will face the biggest jump, accounting for nearly a quarter of the projected increase, but prices of all foods consumed at home will be higher, The Food Institute reported.

It's basic economics, said Brian Todd, president and chief executive of The Food Institute.

"Since civilizations began farming, we have been beholden to nature for good and bad crops, and even though agricultural is integrated globally, that continues to be the case," Todd said.

The projected increase this year is certainly due to higher costs for raw product being passed through the system as result of drought last year, as well as related costs for things like energy (even with recent drops in fuel prices) and labor, he said.

The survey, released Monday, is based on an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It shows that overall expenditures for food-at-home will increase $4.16 a week, to about $108, while food consumed away from home will rise $2.40 a week.

The increase is greater than in 2012, when retail food prices rose about 2.5 percent W about $2.80 a week on average — but well below 2011, when retail food inflation neared 5 percent, Todd said.

And if prices do rise 3 percent to 4 percent, as projected by the USDA this year, the increase would be greater than the prior 10-year average of 2.8 percent.