Behind the glimmering image of a city built on luxury and excess lies a community where finding something as basic as fresh fruit or a loaf of bread has become a daily struggle.
Atlantic City, nicknamed America’s Playground, is a seaside escape of glitzy casinos, celebrity-chef restaurants and endless buffets that drew 24 million tourists in 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. Last year alone, gambling operators raked in $5.8 billion.
But in the shadow of the boardwalk’s neon lights, the city’s 38,000 residents face a grim reality: Atlantic City has not had a proper 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 supermarket and that’s unacceptable,’ Mike Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a regional think tank that studied food insecurity in the area, told WHYY.org. ‘It’s important for the city to designate someone for food insecurity.’
For many residents, the simple act of grocery shopping turns into a grueling journey, from bus rides over bridges to expensive Ubers, or relying on the kindness of relatives.
‘Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, meats … you can’t really get that at the corner stores, at the little bodegas, but that’s mostly all we have here,’ Ori Reyes, a teenager who has spent 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 affordable, you don’t have much of an option, you have to go to other towns.’
Only 13 percent of households in the Atlantic City-Hammonton area own a vehicle, 2021 U.S. Census data shows.
Food insecurity has 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 casinos
Families already struggling to find fresh food in Atlantic City say reductions to SNAP benefits could push many deeper into hunger
Despite billions flowing through Atlantic City’s casinos and tourist restaurants each year, residents say they can’t even buy fresh groceries in their own city
For residents like Rosetta Butler, a 58-year-old who lives in the Atlantic Marina housing complex, salvation comes in the form of a 40-foot converted bus.
Operated by Virtua Health, the ‘Eat Well’ mobile grocery store 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 vegetables.
‘It’s a really big 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 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 deal collapsed. The operator, Village Super Market, pulled out after the Casino Redevelopment Investment Authority (CRDA) rejected its request for subsidies. Residents were left blindsided.
‘Not having a supermarket after telling residents there would be one is devastating,’ Mayor Marty Small Sr. told NJ.com. ‘But our supermarket dreams are just delayed, not dead. We continue to strive to find a permanent solution.’
Advocates warn that looming cuts to federal food assistance (SNAP) could deepen the crisis.
Community groups and mobile markets are stepping 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 each week as demand for help continues to grow
‘This is hurting single mothers and others across the country 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 also sounded alarms, writing: ‘SNAP is not just a safety net for vulnerable residents – it’s a critical economic driver and stabilizing force for entire communities’.
Grassroots groups are filling the gaps. Alicia ‘Lisa’ Newcomb, head of the nonprofit C.R.O.P.S., has worked with farmers and corner stores to stock healthier options, even securing new refrigerators for small grocers.
‘Grocery shopping looks different in different neighborhoods,’ she told WHYY.org. ‘We worked with one corner store to get multiple new refrigerators and that owner said he wanted to be the place where his customers can get good food.’
State officials are also experimenting with creative fixes. Tara Colton, chief economic security officer at the NJEDA, points to refrigerated grocery lockers, akin to Amazon pick-up boxes, as a possible model.
‘Just like there’s no one cause to food insecurity … there’s also not only one solution,’ 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 nice store with a lot more variety,’ he told NJ.com. ‘And I think people here would be really 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 nonprofit. who runs the community kitchen, said demand never goes away.
All the fun 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 whole time,’ he told WHYY.org.
‘We will feed people because they are hungry. We make no judgment of whether they are worthy or not. That is what we will continue to do.’
