Fertilizer giant Mosaic Co., paid $10,000 on Tuesday for a chocolate hazelnut cake baked by the 9-year-old daughter of ag commissioner Adam Putnam. Young Abigail had baked the cake for the annual Youth Fair Auction, and Mosaic plopped down the cash for the confection, the Lakeland Ledger reported this week.
Fair officials said it was an unprecedented sum, with most cakes going for $200 to $500. Adam Putnam told the Ledger the situation was "awkward," and his daughter pomptly contributed $9,000 of her winnings to the Youth Fair.
"Even my 9-year-old knows a cake isn't worth $10,000," he told the paper.
Mosaic spokesman Russell Schweiss said the company is looking into the matter.
"This situation is embarassing for Mosaic and our employees and is not characteristic of how the company represents itself," he said. "We've initiated an aggressive investigation to understand exactly what happened at the fair so that we may take swift and appropriate actions."
Headline should read Ag Commissioner takes a 10k buy-oof from Fertilizer company that wants to dig holes in wetlands and pollute Florida waters.
Posted by: FLDemNinja | January 28, 2011 at 08:51 AM