'America's Playground' Is Now The Epicenter Of A Food Desert
Behind the glimmering picture of a city built on high-end and excess lies a community where finding something as standard as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has ended up being a daily battle.
The city, nicknamed America's Playground, is a seaside escape of glitzy casinos, celebrity-chef restaurants and limitless buffets that drew 24 million travelers 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 homeowners deal with a grim reality: 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 does not have a supermarket and that's undesirable,' Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the location, informed WHYY.org. 'It is essential for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.'
For many citizens, the basic act of grocery shopping turns into a difficult journey, from bus rides over bridges to costly Ubers, or relying on the kindness of relatives.
'Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, meats ... you can't actually get that at the corner shops, at the little bodegas, but that's mostly all we have here,' Ori Reyes, a teenager 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 discover healthy food that's affordable, you do not have much of an alternative, you have to go to other towns.'
Only 13 percent of families in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own a vehicle, 2021 U.S. Census data shows.
Food insecurity has actually left Atlantic City ranked amongst the worst food deserts in New Jersey
Atlantic City is understood as America's Playground with its beaches, fairground rides and casinos
Families already struggling to discover fresh food in Atlantic City say reductions to SNAP benefits might push numerous deeper into cravings
Despite billions flowing through Atlantic City's casinos and tourist restaurants each year, residents state they can't even buy fresh groceries in their own city
For locals like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina housing complex, redemption is available in the type of a 40-foot modified bus.
Operated by Virtua Health, the 'Eat Well' mobile supermarket pulls into her block on .
'This right here, it's a godsend,' 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 individuals 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, pulled out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) declined its ask for subsidies. Residents were left blindsided.
'Not having a grocery store after telling locals there would be one is devastating,' Mayor Marty Small Sr. informed NJ.com. 'But our grocery store dreams are just postponed, not dead. We continue to make every effort to find a long-term solution.'
Advocates alert that looming cuts to federal food assistance (SNAP) could deepen the crisis.
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Community groups and mobile markets are actioning in to supply fruit, veggies, and dairy to struggling households (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 moms and others across the nation and in pockets of New Jersey, it's going to be very bad,' U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman told NJ. com.
The Washington-based Food Research & Action Center has likewise sounded alarms, writing: 'SNAP is not just a safeguard for susceptible locals - it's an important financial motorist and supporting force for entire communities'.
Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia 'Lisa' Newcomb, head of the not-for-profit C.R.O.P.S., has actually dealt with farmers and corner shops to equip healthier alternatives, even securing brand-new fridges for small grocers.
'Grocery shopping looks different in various communities,' she informed WHYY.org. 'We dealt with one corner store to get several new refrigerators and that owner said he desired to be the place where his clients can get good food.'
State authorities are likewise explore imaginative repairs. Tara Colton, primary financial security officer at the NJEDA, indicates refrigerated grocery lockers, similar to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible model.
'Much like there's nobody cause to food insecurity ... there's likewise not just one solution,' Colton told NJ.com.
Meanwhile, the operator of Atlantic City's Save A Lot, Shawn Rinnier, wishes to broaden by 7,000 square feet. 'If we have the ability to pull it off, it 'd be a truly great store with a lot more variety,' he informed NJ.com. 'And I think individuals here would be actually happy 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 not-for-profit. who runs the neighborhood cooking area, said need never ever 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 three days a week for 3 hours a day and we're busy the entire time,' he informed WHYY.org.
'We will feed people because they are hungry. We make no judgment of whether they merit or not. That is what we will continue to do.'
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