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

Behind the glimmering image of a city constructed on luxury and excess lies a neighborhood where finding something as standard as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has actually become an everyday struggle.


The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of flashy 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, betting operators generated $5.8 billion.


But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 homeowners deal with a grim truth: Atlantic City has not had an appropriate full-service supermarket 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 supermarket which's inappropriate,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, told WHYY.org. 'It is very important for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.'


For many locals, the basic act of grocery shopping turns into a grueling journey, from bus rides over bridges to pricey Ubers, or counting on the generosity of loved ones.


'Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, chicken, meats ... you can't truly get that at the corner shops, at the little bodegas, however that's mostly all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teen who has 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 budget-friendly, you do not have much of an option, you have to go to other towns.'


Only 13 percent of homes in the Atlantic City-Hammonton location own a vehicle, 2021 U.S. Census data shows.


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


Atlantic City is called America's Playground with its beaches, fairground trips and casinos


Families currently having a hard time to find fresh food in Atlantic City state decreases to SNAP advantages could push numerous much deeper into appetite


Despite billions streaming through Atlantic City's gambling establishments and traveler restaurants each year, residents say 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 kind of a 40-foot converted bus.


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


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


'It's a truly huge true blessing for individuals like me, who can't make it to the market easily ... you understand, for people who can't drive, are older, or have health concerns.'


In 2021, authorities gathered for a victorious 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 deal collapsed. The operator, Village Super Market, took out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) rejected its demand for aids. Residents were left blindsided.


'Not having a grocery store after telling citizens there would be one is ravaging,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. informed NJ.com. 'But our grocery store dreams are simply postponed, not dead. We continue to make every effort to find an irreversible service.'


Advocates alert that looming cuts to federal food help (SNAP) might deepen the crisis.


Be the very first to commentBe among the first to commentComments


What triggered the decrease of 'America's Playground'?


Comment now


Community groups and mobile markets are actioning in to provide fruit, veggies, 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 each week as need 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 told NJ. com.


The Washington-based Food Research & Action Center has also sounded alarms, writing: 'SNAP is not simply a safeguard for vulnerable homeowners - it's an important economic driver and stabilizing force for whole neighborhoods'.


Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has dealt with farmers and corner stores to stock healthier alternatives, even protecting new fridges for small grocers.


'Grocery shopping looks different in various communities,' she informed WHYY.org. 'We dealt with one corner store to get numerous new fridges and that owner stated he wanted to be the place where his consumers can get good food.'


State officials are also try out creative repairs. Tara Colton, chief financial gatekeeper at the NJEDA, points to cooled grocery lockers, comparable to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible design.


'Similar to there's nobody cause to food insecurity ... there's also not only one option,' Colton informed NJ.com.


Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, wishes to expand by 7,000 square feet. 'If we have the ability to pull it off, it 'd be a truly good shop with a lot more variety,' he told NJ.com. 'And I believe individuals 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 neighborhood cooking area, stated need 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 three days a week for three hours a day and we're busy the entire time,' he informed WHYY.org.


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


Walmart