'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 basic 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 casinos, 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 raked in $5.8 billion.
But in the shadow of the boardwalk's neon lights, the city's 38,000 residents deal with a grim truth: Atlantic City has actually 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 doesn't have a supermarket and that's undesirable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a local think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, told WHYY.org. 'It's important for the city to designate somebody for food insecurity.'
For lots of residents, the simple act of grocery shopping becomes a difficult journey, from bus trips over bridges to costly Ubers, or counting on the kindness of family members.
'Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, meats ... you can't truly get that at the corner shops, at the little bodegas, however that's mainly all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teen who has invested her life making the 18-mile trek with her family to a Walmart in Egg Harbor Township, told NJ.com.
'Usually, to find healthy food that's economical, you don't have much of an option, you have to go to other towns.'
Only 13 percent of homes in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own a vehicle, 2021 U.S. Census data programs.
Food insecurity has actually left Atlantic City ranked among the worst food deserts in New Jersey
Atlantic City is understood as America's Playground with its beaches, fairground rides and casinos
Families currently having a hard time to discover fresh food in Atlantic City say reductions to SNAP benefits could push lots of much deeper into hunger
Despite billions streaming through Atlantic City's casinos and traveler dining establishments each year, residents say they can't even purchase fresh groceries in their own city
For locals like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina housing complex, redemption can be found in the type of a 40-foot modified 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 told NJ.com, showing off a bag filled with bread, peanut butter, and veggies.
'It's a really big true blessing for people like me, who can't make it to the market easily ... you know, for people who can't drive, are older, or have health issues.'
In 2021, officials collected 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) declined its ask for subsidies. Residents were left blindsided.
'Not having a supermarket after telling homeowners 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 find 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 actioning in to 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 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 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 simply a safeguard for vulnerable homeowners - it's a critical financial chauffeur and stabilizing force for entire neighborhoods'.
Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has actually worked with farmers and corner stores to equip much healthier choices, even securing new refrigerators for small grocers.
'Grocery shopping looks different in various areas,' she told WHYY.org. 'We worked with one corner shop to get numerous brand-new fridges which owner said he wanted to be the place where his customers can get excellent food.'
State authorities are likewise explore creative fixes. Tara Colton, chief financial gatekeeper at the NJEDA, indicates cooled grocery lockers, similar to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible model.
'Similar to there's nobody cause to food insecurity ... there's likewise not just one service,' Colton informed NJ.com.
Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, intends to expand by 7,000 square feet. 'If we have the ability to pull it off, it 'd be a really great shop with a lot more variety,' he informed NJ.com. 'And I think individuals here would be truly 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, stated 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 informed WHYY.org.
'We will feed people since they are starving. We make no judgment of whether they merit or not. That is what we will continue to do.'
Walmart