Lauren Murphy is a small farmer, Southern Appalachian seed steward with the Sand Mountain Seed Bank, oral historian, writer, storyteller, special needs mother, and traditional foods enthusiast trained in Southern Folk Medicine by Phyllis Light at the Appalachian Center for Natural Health, and in Sociology from Florida State University.

Born and raised in the Southeast, Lauren believes that food is medicine and that the old Southern and Appalachian traditions of growing and preparing food, saving seeds, planting by the signs, making medicine and building community are the wisdom we need in these complex times.

In 2024, Lauren received a Cauthen Fellowship with the Alabama Folklife Association to grow, save, and write about the Old Time Tennessee Muskmelon. In 2025, she will be working with the Southern Foodways Alliance to tell the story of the Sand Mountain Seed Bank.