By Chef Christina Martin
Recently I visited the CROPS (Communities Revolutionizing Open Public Spaces) food hub located at 167 S. Tennessee Ave. in Atlantic City. I sat down with Director of Operations Alexis Flack, who has been with CROPS since 2022; and food distribution coordinator Soph Milone, who started as an intern in 2024, and is now working full time for CROPS.
I was familiar with CROPS, but learned so much more about it during my visit and what they have to offer.
CROPS is a nonprofit with a mission “to alleviate food insecurity through empowering healthy, interconnected communities by cultivating fresh produce, ensuring access to nutritional food, providing educational programming and advocating for sustainable food systems and collaborative solutions.”
The UCAN (Urban Coastal Agriculture Network) is a farming training program which teaches Atlantic City residents farming and business skills. This hands-on program teaches how to farm using field trips to farms, as well as handling the accounting and the marketing side of running a business. The program allows the farmers in training to build an urban farming business as part of Atlantic City’s Farm to Fork City program. It’s funded through CRDA (Casino Reinvestment Development Authority), a New Jersey Food Security Initiative grant and a partnership with AtlantiCare.
The UCAN urban farming locations include Farmers Row on Pacific and Texas avenues which has eight indoor hydroponic systems created by Fork Farms and purchased through a grant. These systems are able to produce 30 pounds of produce in a growing cycle.
Fresh lettuces, and herbs such as basil, dill and cilantro can be grown hydroponically. The farmers can then sell their produce at the CROPS farmers market, in Atlantic City stores, to local restaurants or as part of the Farm Share Program.
The other two locations are outdoor farms; one is Fisherman’s Park and Community Garden, and the other is Our Lady Star of the Sea School’s Peace Garden in Atlantic City.
Farmers market locations run weekly, June through September, at the WIC office in Atlantic City. A weekly market that runs June through August is offered at the Fisherman’s Park Community Garden.
Biweekly, the Farm Share Program offers a share of locally produced vegetables, herbs and fruits from Reed’s Farm in Egg Harbor Township, as well as vegetables raised by the CROPS UCAN farmer participants in Atlantic City.
The program runs February-March. Pickup location is at the Food Hub on Tennessee Avenue. Cost per box is on an income-based, sliding scale. They accept credit, debit, EBT and SNAP.
The farm share will be available every other week, September through November, with pickup on Thursday and Friday. In the farm share boxes, Soph includes recipe cards created to teach recipes using ingredients from the box.
Another source of getting fresh food to the community is with the CRDA-funded AC Refrigeration Program, in which refrigerators are being set up in corner stores so they can supply fresh produce to their customers. Pacific Market, Cedar Basic Food and Oceanside Family Success Center are some of the places the community can find these refrigerators of fresh, locally grown produce.
How they get community feedback is something Soph was happy to discuss with me. They have a QR code through which residents can access a survey and share their needs and preferences. The survey can be taken in English or Spanish. It helps with planning and to eliminate food waste, something Soph is passionate about.
On the CROPS website you can find upcoming education workshops. During June-September there are garden clubs located at Fisherman’s Park on Thursdays, 4-6 p.m.; and at the Arc Community Garden every Monday, 4-6 p.m.
CROPS is working toward their mission and doing wonderful things for the community. Stop by the food hub to see it in action. There is a hydroponic growing system there as well. They hope to obtain more partners to help bring healthy, local, sustainable food to Atlantic City.
To learn more visit www.cropsnj.org.
Chef Christina Martin is a dedicated chef educator, passionate advocate for healthy eating, and mother. Christina’s expertise has been spotlighted in Independent Restaurateur Magazine and she has been awarded 2024 Chef Educator of the Year from the Professional Chef Association of South Jersey.
