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

Behind the glimmering image of a city developed on high-end and excess lies a community 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 tourists in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. Last year alone, betting operators raked in $5.8 billion.


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


'Atlantic City does not have a supermarket which's inappropriate,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, informed WHYY.org. 'It's important for the city to designate somebody for food insecurity.'


For many locals, the basic act of grocery shopping turns into a grueling journey, from bus trips over bridges to costly Ubers, or counting on the generosity of relatives.


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


'Usually, to discover healthy food that's cost effective, you do not have much of an alternative, you have to go to other towns.'


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


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


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


Families already having a hard time to find fresh food in Atlantic City state decreases to SNAP benefits could press lots of deeper into hunger


Despite billions streaming through Atlantic City's casinos and traveler restaurants each year, locals say they can't even purchase fresh groceries in their own city


For citizens like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina housing complex, salvation comes in the type 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, showing off a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and veggies.


'It's an actually big true blessing for people like me, who can't make it to the marketplace easily ... you understand, for individuals who can't drive, are older, or have health issues.'


In 2021, authorities collected for a victorious groundbreaking of an $18.7 million ShopRite grocery store at Baltic and Indiana Avenues. Governor Phil Murphy hailed it as a turning point.


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


'Not having a grocery store after informing locals there would be one is devastating,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. told NJ.com. 'But our supermarket dreams are simply postponed, not dead. We continue to make every effort to discover an irreversible solution.'


Advocates alert 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 offer fruit, veggies, and dairy to having a hard time households (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 weekly as demand for help continues to grow


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


The Washington-based Food Research & Action Center has actually also sounded alarms, writing: 'SNAP is not simply a for vulnerable locals - it's a vital economic chauffeur and stabilizing force for whole neighborhoods'.


Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the not-for-profit C.R.O.P.S., has worked with farmers and corner stores to stock much healthier options, even protecting new fridges for little grocers.


'Grocery shopping looks various in various neighborhoods,' she informed WHYY.org. 'We dealt with one corner store to get numerous new refrigerators and that owner stated he wished to be the location where his customers can get excellent food.'


State officials are likewise explore creative repairs. Tara Colton, chief financial security officer at the NJEDA, indicates refrigerated grocery lockers, similar to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible design.


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


Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, wishes to expand by 7,000 square feet. 'If we're able to pull it off, it 'd be a truly great shop with a lot more range,' he informed NJ.com. 'And I believe people here would be really happy 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 community kitchen, stated need never disappears.


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 entire time,' he told WHYY.org.


'We will feed people 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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