Joel Bleifuss
Joel Bleifuss is Barn Raiser Editor & Publisher and Board President of Barn Raising Media Inc. He is a descendent of German and Scottish farmers who immigrated to the Upper Midwest in the 19th Century to become farmers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas. His grandmother was born in the Scottish Highlands to parents listed in the Census of Great Britain, 1881 as “farm servants” on land owned by the Duke of Fife. Joel himself was born and raised in Fulton, Mo., a small town on the edge of the Ozark Highlands. He got his start in journalism in 1983 as a feature writer and Saturday reporter/photographer for his hometown daily, the Fulton Sun. Bleifuss joined the staff of In These Times magazine in October 1986, stepping down as Editor & Publisher in April 2022, to join his fellow barn raisers in getting Barn Raiser off the ground.
Latest articles
page 1 of 3Electrifying Democracy in Rural America
For this energy policy expert, rural electric co-ops empower communities and strengthen democracy.
This Teachers Union Leader Wants to Turn Rural Schools Into Community Hubs
The American Federation of Teachers’ Rural Caucus advocates turning public schools into social service centers
This Montana Rancher Has a Beef with Corporate Meat Monopolies
For Gilles Stockton, antitrust enforcement is they key to revitalizing our food system and fractured politics
Igniting Democracy in Georgia, One Rural County at a Time
Eradicating civic deserts ‘step by step’
Organizing State Legislators to Think Rural
‘Rural people need policymakers working at all levels on their behalf’
