What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed last week:

Downtown Disney boots McDonald's, replaces with healthier fare and BabyCakes gluten-free bakery – Pollo Campero, Fresh Apeel and NYC's BabyCakes gluten-free bakery will be taking Mickey D's place. This project was headed by the Spiaggia restaurant group who wanted to put healthier fare in the parks.

EarthTalk: The controversy over "fracking" for natural gas – Fracking, shorthand for “hydraulic fracturing,” involves blasting millions of gallons of water, sand and hazardous chemicals at high-pressure into sub-surface rock formations to create fractures that facilitate the flow of recoverable oil or gas. It has come under serious attack of late due to fears about contaminated drinking water and other threats to public health.

St. Pete residents: Recycle your Christmas tree into Yuletide mulch (and how the rest of Pinellas and Hillsborough can get rid of theirs too) – Don't go sticking your withered Tannenbaum in the dumpster after the holidays, let the city turn it into "Yuletide" mulch.

Interview with New Port Richey market gardener Jim Kovaleski (video) – Another interview of a local market gardener, Jim Kovaleski, by Code Green Community founder Eric Stewart.

Permablitz gardening event at The Angelus with Code Green Community – Sunday, January 2nd – The Angelus is looking for volunteers to help with its newly formed local food production operation to help support its residents. The group is planning to work on their community garden and food forest and to fill up their green houses and accessible garden with lots of fruits and vegetables.

This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2011.