Go See The City, Redirecting Food Waste to Those Facing Hunger

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.– Aneshai Smith graduated from TechStars Tulsa with a plan to connect food surplus to people facing food insecurity. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Smith recognized the potential of creating a link between facilities that end up with too much food and communities that don’t have enough. That’s when she created Go See The City. Through redirecting food that would normally end up in a landfill, the TechStars graduate developed a website for providers and also consumers.  

According to Feeding America, 1 in 7 Oklahomans experience food insecurity. Additionally, 1 in 5 Oklahoma children will face hunger. Almost half (45.2%) of all SNAP recipients are families with children. Despite governmental grocery assistance programs, gaps remain in terms of ensuring everyone has access to food. 

Home to the OKC Thunder, the Paycom Center has hosted over 10 million visitors since it broke ground in 1999. Aside from basketball games, concerts are also regularly held in the arena. Concessions are provided by the Levy Restaurant Group. Smith’s company, titled Go See The City, has connected surplus food from just 5 Thunder games to nearly 2000 food-insecure people in the OKC area. 

Catching Up With Aneshai Smith

The Black Wall Street Times sat down with Smith to hear about her inspirations for starting a food waste program. Smith says the pandemic was a catalyst for the idea. Previously, she worked with new restaurants to help plan their opening events. “During the pandemic, a lot of restaurants we were working with started having foot traffic issues as well as food waste issues,” Smith said. That gave her the idea to design an email campaign to inform residents about local restaurants. 

Thrilled by the success of the email campaign, Smith went a step further to address disparities in food access. Now operating her own tech company, she coordinates with establishments that have unused food to deliver the excess to non-profit organizations that then distribute it to those facing hunger. 

The organizations can either pick up the food directly from the source or have it delivered to them. To facilitate the delivery aspect, Go See The City partnered with Doordash.

“It’s really helpful to have a partner that’s willing to go pick up the food,” Smith said. The businesses benefit from the program as well. GSTC designates participating establishments as “zero food waste” locations.

Collaborating with Local Partners

One of the non-profits GSTC works with is Reaching Our City, a local food pantry on the west side of Oklahoma City. Since they first started working together, the pantry has received over a thousand pounds of food through the GSTC program. 

Many non-profits are currently signing up to act as distribution hubs that will activate as the program expands. In the coming weeks, GSTC will partner with the University of Oklahoma. Organizations in the Norman area will be eligible to accept food donations from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to distribute to community members in need. 

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Food Waste From Tampa to Tulsa

“The thing that brought us to Oklahoma is TechStars,” said Smith. TechStars is a three-month entrepreneurial program that helps emerging businesses gain access to helpful resources. “We were chosen by TechStars to bring our company here and expand.” Investments from the Tulsa program helped GSTC launch its operations in Oklahoma. 

We asked Smith if she thinks the state could be doing more to tackle food waste. “There are many things that we can continue to do and grow out different programs but there is a lot actually being done.” Smith brings up Oklahoma House Bill 1542, which was signed into law in 2023. The law encourages restaurants to donate their unused food. 

In 2015, the EPA and USDA announced their goal of cutting food waste rates in half by 2030. Rotting food is responsible for nearly 58% of methane emissions from municipal landfills.

“As everyday people, we’re the ones creating food waste,” Smith said. “So if we all get behind a challenge and say ‘how can we help reduce it’ and ‘who can we give our surplus to’ I think that is the change maker more than anything.” 

Currently, GSTC is only working with stadiums and arenas in Oklahoma. However, as the company continues to gain traction, it will grow to incorporate local restaurants.