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

Behind the glimmering image of a city developed on luxury and excess lies a community where finding something as standard as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has actually ended up being a daily battle.


The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of flashy gambling establishments, celebrity-chef dining establishments and limitless buffets that drew 24 million tourists in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. In 2015 alone, betting operators raked in $5.8 billion.


But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 citizens face a grim truth: Atlantic City has actually 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 study by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.


'Atlantic City doesn't have a grocery store and that's undesirable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, informed WHYY.org. 'It is necessary for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.'


For numerous residents, the easy act of grocery shopping becomes an intense journey, from bus rides over bridges to expensive Ubers, or relying on the generosity of relatives.


'Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, chicken, meats ... you can't truly get that at the corner stores, at the little bodegas, however that's primarily 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, told NJ.com.


'Usually, to find healthy food that's inexpensive, you do not have much of an option, you need to go to other towns.'


Only 13 percent of households in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own an automobile, 2021 U.S. Census data programs.


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


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


Families currently struggling to discover fresh food in Atlantic City say decreases to SNAP benefits could press many deeper into hunger


Despite billions flowing through Atlantic City's gambling establishments and tourist restaurants each year, homeowners state they can't even purchase fresh groceries in their own city


For citizens like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who resides in the Atlantic Marina real estate complex, salvation is available in the type 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 blessing,' she informed NJ.com, displaying a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and vegetables.


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


In 2021, officials 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) rejected its demand for aids. Residents were left blindsided.


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


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


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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 feeding hundreds each week as need for help continues to grow


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


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


Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has worked with farmers and corner shops to stock much healthier alternatives, even securing new refrigerators for little grocers.


'Grocery shopping looks different in different neighborhoods,' she informed WHYY.org. 'We dealt with one corner shop to get numerous brand-new fridges which owner stated he desired to be the place where his consumers can get great food.'


State officials are also try out creative repairs. Tara Colton, chief economic gatekeeper at the NJEDA, indicates refrigerated grocery lockers, similar to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible model.


'Just like there's no one cause to food insecurity ... there's likewise not only one solution,' Colton informed NJ.com.


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


At Sister Jean's Kitchen, the reality is plain. Dozens line up daily for meals. Reverend John Scotland, the executive director of the nonprofit. who runs the neighborhood kitchen, said demand 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 three hours a day and we're busy the whole 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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