TechLeandro: The Healthy Snack Social

Silicon Valley firms used to hold beer busts and other mixers to get people out of their cubicles and into conversations.

This aftertoon at 3:00 pm, as they do every Thursday at that hour, engineers at OSIsoft will hold a variant on that theme -- a break that tears them away from their monitors to tables featuring fruits, nuts and other healthy snacks.

OSIsoft is a privately-held firm that develops software to monitor complex industrial processes. Its founder, started the Lit San Leandro initiative to ring the city's industrial zone with fiber optic cables.

The healthy snack social is the brainchild of OSIsoft marketing engineer Ahmad Fattahi. Over the last two years, the event has become a tradition. Fattahi has a weekly budget of $125 to buy snacks. After he shops, a dozen volunteers help prepare spreads for each floor of OSIsoft's three story offices.

"It's a team-building exercise," Fattahi said.

At a recent snack day, engineers Ed Zhang and Dwaine Mougeotte loaded up their plates. They said the snacks are a welcome break at the end of the week and a chance to bump into co-workers they wouldn't ordinarily see.

Fattahi said the health snacks program focuses on organic and locally-grown produce. Regular suppliers include , a program that puts troubled youth to work growing pesticide-free crops in community gardens.

Next Thursday, April 12, marks the 100th week of the healthy snacks program. To celebrate, OSIsoft has invited  Dig Deep Farms to set up a fresh produce stand in the company's parking area on Alvarado Street, just south of Davis Street.

This event will run from 2 pm to 4 pm and be open to the public.

(Sign up to get San Leandro Patch delivered by email.)