Hunger for answers at one-of-a-kind site

From Haiti to India to the Philippines, severe shortages of food staples such as rice have sparked riots, hoarding and worse. What are you gonna do, right?

Well, Mercy Corps, a hunger-relief organization, hopes a Battery Park City space they broke ground on this week will provide inspiration for average New Yorkers to respond.

That’s why their $5 million, 4,000-square-foot space is named the Action Center to End World Hunger. “We don’t want people coming away thinking these problems are insurmountable,” said George Devendorf, vice president of Global Engagement.

When the first-of-its-kind center opens Oct. 16 — World Food Day — it will educate visitors on everything from local food kitchen hours to global opportunities to fight famine.

“You can write your representatives and ask for U.S. leadership and funding to address food and social issues,” Davendorf said. “Business firms can mentor aspiring entrepreneurs in the developing world ... We want to make sure we’re linking people. Sadly, the problems we’re seeing now are not going away anytime soon.”

Hunger's face

Short videos from aid workers will aim to make the crisis’ causes — from climate change to the rise of biofuels — understandable on a human level.