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

Behind the glimmering picture of a city built on luxury and excess lies a community where finding something as basic as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has become a day-to-day battle.


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


But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 homeowners face a grim truth: 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 research study by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.


'Atlantic City doesn't have a supermarket and that's inappropriate,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the location, told WHYY.org. 'It is essential for the city to designate somebody for food insecurity.'


For many citizens, the basic act of grocery shopping develops into a difficult journey, from bus trips over bridges to pricey Ubers, or relying on the generosity of loved ones.


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


'Usually, to find healthy food that's economical, you don't have much of an alternative, you need to go to other towns.'


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


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


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


Families already struggling to discover fresh food in Atlantic City say decreases to SNAP advantages could push lots of deeper into appetite


Despite billions streaming through Atlantic City's casinos and tourist dining establishments each year, residents state they can't even buy fresh groceries in their own city


For homeowners like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who resides in the Atlantic Marina real estate complex, redemption can be found in the kind of a 40-foot converted bus.


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


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


'It's a truly huge true blessing for individuals like me, who can't make it to the marketplace quickly ... you know, for people 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 aids. Residents were left blindsided.


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


Advocates caution that looming cuts to federal food assistance (SNAP) might deepen the crisis.


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Community groups and mobile markets are stepping in to supply fruit, vegetables, and dairy to having a hard time 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 each week as demand for aid continues to grow


'This is injuring single mothers and others throughout the country 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 just a safety internet for susceptible homeowners - it's an important financial motorist and supporting force for entire communities'.


Grassroots groups are filling the spaces. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the not-for-profit C.R.O.P.S., has actually worked with farmers and corner stores to stock 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 shop to get numerous brand-new refrigerators and that owner stated he desired to be the location where his consumers can get good food.'


State officials are also try out imaginative fixes. Tara Colton, chief economic security officer at the NJEDA, points to cooled grocery lockers, comparable to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible design.


'Just like 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, hopes to expand by 7,000 square feet. 'If we have the ability to pull it off, it 'd be a truly nice shop with a lot more variety,' he told NJ.com. 'And I believe people here would be really happy with it.'


At Sister Jean's Kitchen, the truth appears. Dozens line up daily for meals. Reverend John Scotland, the executive director of the nonprofit. who runs the community kitchen 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 hectic the entire time,' he told WHYY.org.


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


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