'America's Playground' Is Now The Epicenter Of A Food Desert

Behind the glimmering picture of a city built on high-end and excess lies a neighborhood where finding something as basic as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has ended up being a day-to-day battle.


The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of glitzy casinos, celebrity-chef restaurants and endless buffets that drew 24 million travelers in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. In 2015 alone, gambling operators generated $5.8 billion.


But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 residents deal with a grim reality: Atlantic City has not had an appropriate full-service grocery store in nearly 28 years, and it now ranks as New Jersey's second-worst food desert, according to a 2022 state research study by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.


'Atlantic City does not have a grocery store which's undesirable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a local think tank that studied food insecurity in the location, told WHYY.org. 'It is very important for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.'


For lots of residents, the easy act of grocery shopping turns into a difficult journey, from bus rides over bridges to expensive Ubers, or relying on the generosity of loved ones.


'Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, meats ... you can't actually get that at the corner stores, at the little bodegas, but that's mostly all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teenager who has actually spent her life making the 18-mile trek with her family to a Walmart in Egg Harbor Township, told NJ.com.


'Usually, to discover healthy food that's budget-friendly, you do not have much of an option, you need to go to other towns.'


Only 13 percent of homes in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own a car, 2021 U.S. Census information shows.


Food insecurity has left Atlantic City ranked amongst the worst food deserts in New Jersey


Atlantic City is known as America's Playground with its beaches, fairground rides and gambling establishments


Families currently struggling to discover fresh food in Atlantic City state decreases to SNAP advantages might push numerous much deeper into hunger


Despite billions streaming through Atlantic City's gambling establishments and traveler dining establishments each year, citizens state they can't even purchase fresh groceries in their own city


For homeowners like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina real estate complex, redemption is available in the form of a 40-foot modified bus.


Operated by Virtua Health, the 'Eat Well' mobile supermarket pulls into her block on Fridays.


'This right here, it's a godsend,' she told NJ.com, displaying a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and veggies.


'It's a really big true blessing for individuals like me, who can't make it to the marketplace quickly ... you understand, for individuals who can't drive, are older, or have health concerns.'


In 2021, officials gathered for a triumphant groundbreaking of an $18.7 million ShopRite supermarket at Baltic and Indiana Avenues. Governor Phil Murphy hailed it as a turning point.


But within a year, the offer collapsed. The operator, Village Super Market, took out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) declined its demand for subsidies. Residents were left blindsided.


'Not having a supermarket after telling residents there would be one is devastating,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. informed NJ.com. 'But our grocery store dreams are just postponed, not dead. We continue to strive to find an irreversible option.'


Advocates caution that looming cuts to federal food support (SNAP) could deepen the crisis.


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Community groups and mobile markets are stepping in to supply fruit, vegetables, and dairy to struggling families (Pictured: Event offering social services to homeless veterans at All Wars Memorial Building, in Atlantic City Wednesday May 17, 2017)


Nonprofits and churches are feeding hundreds every week as need for aid continues to grow


'This is hurting single moms and others throughout the country and in pockets of New Jersey, it's going to be extremely bad,' U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman informed NJ. com.


The Washington-based Food Research & Action Center has also sounded alarms, writing: 'SNAP is not simply a safeguard for susceptible homeowners - it's a critical economic motorist and supporting force for entire neighborhoods'.


Grassroots groups are filling the spaces. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has dealt with farmers and corner stores to equip much healthier options, even protecting new refrigerators for little grocers.


'Grocery shopping looks various in various communities,' she told WHYY.org. 'We worked with one corner store to get multiple brand-new refrigerators which owner said he wished to be the location where his consumers can get good food.'


State authorities are likewise experimenting with imaginative repairs. Tara Colton, primary economic security officer at the NJEDA, points to cooled grocery lockers, akin to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible design.


'Similar to there's nobody cause to food insecurity ... there's likewise not just one service,' Colton told NJ.com.


Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, hopes to broaden by 7,000 square feet. 'If we're able to pull it off, it 'd be an actually nice store with a lot more variety,' he informed NJ.com. 'And I think individuals here would be truly delighted with it.'


At Sister Jean's Kitchen, the truth is plain. Dozens line up daily for meals. Reverend John Scotland, the executive director of the not-for-profit. who runs the neighborhood cooking area, said demand never ever goes away.


All the enjoyable of Atlantic City's boardwalk and piers is seen above


Restaurants on Atlantic City's boardwalk are seen above


'Today, we are open 3 days a week for 3 hours a day and we're busy the whole time,' he .org.


'We will feed individuals because they are starving. We make no judgment of whether they merit or not. That is what we will continue to do.'


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