Cheryl Owens / The Meridian StarWinners of the Earth's Bounty Mascot Contest: Left, Princeton Chesney, West Lauderdale Elementary; Garrett the Carrot, Earth's Bounty Mascot; and Cannon Earnhart, Northeast Elementary. Not pictured Isabella Mathis, Clarkdale Elementary.

The new mascot for Earth’s Bounty got a name Wednesday morning at City Hall – Garrett the Carrot.

The mascot, a human-adult-sized carrot, was introduced without a name at the end of the 2016 Earth’s Bounty Festival season.

The name was picked from names submitted by third-grade students in Meridian area schools. Three third-graders came up with the name Garrett the Carrot – Isabella Mathis of Clarkdale Elementary, Cannon Earnhart of Northeast Elementary and Princeton Chesney of West Lauderdale Elementary.

“I named Garrett the Carrot after my cousin, but it rhymed with a carrot so I thought it would be a good name,” Chesney said.

“I just feel really good about winning, and it was not hard to pick his name,” Earnhart said.

Laura Carmichael of the City of Meridian, and the festival’s co-sponsor said having a carrot for the mascot was a natural.

“It’s simple, colorful and crunchy,” Carmichael said. “We think Garrett the Carrot is a great name for our mascot. Also, we wanted to develop a mascot that would serve as both a symbol of the festival and would go along with our healthy eating initiative.”

Earth’s Bounty festival chairman Maureen Lofton said, “Earth’s Bounty has been enormously successful in its first five years. We simply wanted an image that would always mean Earth’s Bounty to anyone who sees it. Garrett the Carrot does that.”