Fun at 55 Water: Our August of Craft and Culture with FEED

As a brand with a mission to make good products that feed the world, FEED has been a longtime supporter of Nest’s work to uphold artisan traditions and create fair opportunity for women’s global workforce participation through craft. Sharing a similar vision for the world, Nest and FEED launched a limited edition International Women’s Day FEED bag in 2016, featuring the stunning hand embroidery of Nest Guild members, Hilos Y Colores, in Peru. By participating in Nest’s transparent sourcing platform, FEED created a new opportunity for consumers not only to provide meals to people in need, but also to give fair work to deserving women across the world. And with FEED Founder and CEO, Lauren Bush Lauren, serving as an honored Nest Advisory Board member, it seems only fitting that this month found us working together once again.

For the Nest team, an excuse was barely needed to spend more time at FEED’s beautiful new digs on 55 Water Street in DUMBO. The freshly launched FEED Shop & Cafe provided a peaceful backdrop for a month of activities celebrating global craftsmanship. We kicked off August in the company of a close-knit group of crafting neophites and enthusiasts alike to practice hand embroidery under the sage tutelage of Janis Embroidery. We learned how to “tatoo” our own organic cotton FEED bags with needle and thread, giving life to adorable summer designs like cacti. Janis, who began her career in her New York apartment, using techniques taught by her grandmother back home in France, ignited in us a renewed appreciation for the precise an personal work that global handworkers engage in on a daily basis.

We closed the month shopping FEED bags and a curated collection of clean, sophisticated, handmade jewelry of Soko and Sidai Designs, respective masters in Kenyan brass casting and Tanzanian beading techniques. As members of Nest Guild, a community of more than 350 artisan businesses across 50 countries who Nest is connecting with exciting business growth opportunities, Soko and Sidai Designs are helping Nest leverage development of the global craft sector as a path towards sustainable social change. With a portion of shopping proceeds benefitting Nest, our gratitude goes back to the team at FEED for their ongoing partnership. If you haven’t visited the FEED Shop & Cafe, make it your next destination for a delicious latte and healthy dose of inspiration to do good.