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

Behind the glimmering image of a city constructed on high-end and excess lies a community where finding something as fundamental as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has actually become a daily struggle.


The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of flashy gambling establishments, celebrity-chef restaurants and unlimited buffets that drew 24 million tourists 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 citizens deal with a grim truth: Atlantic City has actually not had a proper full-service supermarket 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 grocery store which's undesirable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a local think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, told WHYY.org. 'It's crucial for the city to designate somebody for food insecurity.'


For many homeowners, the simple act of grocery shopping develops into an intense journey, from bus trips over bridges to expensive Ubers, or relying on the compassion of relatives.


'Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, chicken, meats ... you can't truly get that at the corner shops, at the little bodegas, however that's primarily all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teen who has actually spent 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 don't have much of a choice, you have to go to other towns.'


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


Food insecurity has actually left Atlantic City ranked among 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 having a hard time to discover fresh food in Atlantic City say reductions to might press lots of much deeper into hunger


Despite billions flowing through Atlantic City's gambling establishments and traveler dining establishments each year, homeowners say they can't even buy fresh groceries in their own city


For citizens like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina real estate complex, salvation comes in the type 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 godsend,' she informed NJ.com, showing off a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and vegetables.


'It's a truly huge true blessing for people like me, who can't make it to the marketplace quickly ... you know, for individuals who can't drive, are older, or have health issues.'


In 2021, authorities 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, pulled out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) declined its request for aids. Residents were left blindsided.


'Not having a supermarket after telling citizens there would be one is devastating,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. informed NJ.com. 'But our supermarket dreams are just postponed, not dead. We continue to aim to discover an irreversible solution.'


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


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Community groups and mobile markets are actioning in to provide 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 demand for assistance continues to grow


'This is harming single moms and others across the nation 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 actually also sounded alarms, composing: 'SNAP is not just a safeguard for vulnerable locals - it's a crucial financial motorist 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 healthier alternatives, even protecting brand-new fridges for small grocers.


'Grocery shopping looks various in various neighborhoods,' she told WHYY.org. 'We dealt with one corner store to get multiple new fridges and that owner stated he wished to be the location where his clients can get great food.'


State officials are also try out innovative repairs. Tara Colton, chief economic security officer at the NJEDA, indicates refrigerated grocery lockers, comparable to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible design.


'Just like there's nobody cause to food insecurity ... there's also not just 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're able to pull it off, it 'd be a really great store with a lot more range,' he told 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 nonprofit. who runs the community kitchen area, said need never 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 hectic the whole time,' he told WHYY.org.


'We will feed people due to the fact that 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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