Mailing Address
PO Box 2044
Durham, NC 27702
(919) 794-7440
Physical Address
201 West Main St
Suite B013
Durham, NC 27701
Lauren Manning (she, her, hers)
Senior Associate
Lauren Manning, Esq., LL.M., is an attorney, law professor, and farmer with a dedicated passion for all things farming. Before joining Croatan Institute, Lauren was a venture capital investor with food and ag-focused VC firm AgFunder where she focused on deal flow and due diligence. Lauren began with AgFunder in 2015 as part of AgFunderNews media and research team reporting on issues involving finance, agriculture, climate change, and more. From 2019 to 2021, Lauren supported the Sacred Cow documentary and book project discussing the nutritional, environmental, and ethical case for (better) meat production.
At the University of Arkansas School of Law, Lauren serves as an adjunct professor across multiple departments teaching courses on farm animal welfare, food safety, farm succession planning, agricultural cooperatives and local food systems, and more. Earlier in her career, Lauren was a trial attorney in California litigating a broad range of civil matters. During law school, she clerked for the Honorable Justice Joyce L. Kennard and completed a comparative legal systems tutorial at Oxford University in England.
Lauren owns a small farm in Northwest Arkansas where she raises cattle, sheep, and goats. She is a partner with Ozark Pasture Beef, a direct-to-consumer grass-finished and pasture-based livestock partnership selling beef and lamb. In her spare time, you will usually find Lauren on a horse.
Education
LL.M., University of Arkansas School of Law
J.D., Pacific McGeorge
B.A., Legal Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Croatan Publications
Other Publications
Regenerative agriculture is anything but ‘just business,’ Ag Funder (October 19, 2022)
Barriers for Beginners, Successful Farming (2019)
Are you Truly Ready to Buy a Farm? Successful Farming (2019)
How to use Social Media for your Farm Business: An interactive workbook designed for all skill levels to help you make the most of social media marketing for your farm business, Project Funded by USDA Small & Medium-Sized Farms Grant USDA-NIFA-AFRI-2014-05471 (2018)
An Interview with Outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: Reflections on His Legacy & Challenges Facing a New Era in American Agriculture Policy, 13 FOOD LAW & POLICY 162-180 (2017)
Pasture to Package: Ensuring Food Safety Compliance & Animal Welfare Integrity in Grass-Fed Beef Production, Mitchell Hamline Law Review (2017)
Mining for Compromise in Pastoral Greenland: Promise, Progress, and Problems in International Laws’ Response to Indigenous People, American University International Law Review (2017), Winner of American University Washington College of Law’s 2016 global writing competition
Setting the Table for Feast or Famine: How Privacy Rights Education Will Play a Deciding Role in the Future of Precision Agriculture, 11 FOOD LAW & POLICY 113-156 (2015)
A New Way to Roost: How Land Use Policies Can Facilitate the Changing Landscape of Poultry Regulations, 24 SAN JOAQUIN AGRICULTURAL L. REV. 1-58 (2015)
