My copy of the MA arrived last week at the same time as I took delivery of two bottles of beer from the Westerham Brewery in Kent and the latest edition of the Siba Journal, produced by the Society of Independent Brewers.
The timing was immaculate - a columnist's dream - as the MA reported that Fuller's is to make Fairtrade tea and coffee available in its pubs, Westerham sent me samples of its William Wilberforce Freedom Ale, which uses Fairtrade Demerara sugar.
And the Siba Journal told me that the Freeminer Brewery in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire has also launched a cask Fairtrade beer called Freeminer Fairplay Ale. Both Don Burgess at Freeminer and Robert Wicks at Westerham said their beers have created enormous interest, with the cask version of William Wilberforce outselling its flagship British Bulldog beer.
Fairtrade is an organisation that seeks to help farmers in Third World countries to earn a decent income from their labours. It aims to cut out the cartels buying coffee, wine, tea, fruit and vegetables for a pittance which keep farmers locked in a cycle of poverty.
While Fairtrade tea and coffee are now widely available in Britain, Fairtrade beer is a more difficult concept. Unlike tea, coffee and wine, beer is made from two main ingredients: barley malt and hops. Both are mainly obtained from British sources, although some hops are imported - so does the term Fairtrade beer really stand up to scrutiny?
Both Freeminer and Westerham beers are made from conventional malts and hops but use Demerara sugar sourced from a small farmers' co-operative in Malawi, Africa. Wychwood Brewery in Oxfordshire has also launched a Fairtrade bottled beer, BeeWyched, which is made with English malts and hops but adds Fairtrade honey and sugar.
Speaking to Burgess and Wicks sent me in the direction of Warminster Maltings in Wiltshire. There I found barley being sourced in a manner that may not be precisely Fairtrade but which does meet the growing demand for food and drink to have "provenance". In other words, consumers can be satisfied that the produce they buy comes from its place of origin and has not been transported thousands of miles at great cost to the environment.
Some years ago, seed merchants and big farmers de-listed a variety of malting barley called Maris Otter, which had been a favourite with many brewers for more than 40 years. But agri-business dumped Maris Otter because it was "low-yielding", which means it produces less grain per acre than modern varieties.
Then an independent seed merchant named Robin Appel came to the rescue by purchasing the rights to Maris Otter and having it contract-grown by a chain of small farmers. The grain is then malted at Warminster and sold direct to craft brewers.
Beer's flavour varies according to where the barley is grown. Soil and nitrogen levels will impact on the grain, the fermentation process in the brewery and - crucially - the taste in the glass. Brewers can judge the behaviour of the malts they buy from Warminster and tell Robin Appel that in future they would prefer to have their Maris Otter grown by Farmer Giles, rather than Farmer Bracegirdle.
Hops are also being more carefully sourced from local farmers. Rupert Thompson, the man who runs Wychwood Brewery and who also saved Brakspear by buying the brewery's unique fermentation vessels, buys some of his hops from an Oxfordshire farmer. Similarly, Miles Jenner, Harvey's head brewer in Lewes, sources some hops from Sussex farmers.
No doubt some big brewers will scoff at all this Fairtrade and provenance business, but they will ultimately reap the rewards as the number of people who want to help the Third World and save the planet from global warming keeps growing.
How our beer is made and which ingredients are used will become increasingly important to consumers - so let's raise a glass and toast Don Burgess, Robert Wicks, Robin Appel and Rupert Thompson, who are lighting a path to the future.
l Roger Protz's new book, the Beer Lover's Guide to Cricket, mentioned by Snifter last week, costs £16.99 from Camra Books. Call 01727 867201 or visit www.camra.org.uk