Gouge Alert: Tomatoes at Farmers' Market Reach $6.99/lb

We've seen them selling anywhere from $3.99 to $5.99 per pound over the last several weeks -- hothouse-grown tomatoes at farmers' markets in Union Square, Abingdon Square, Tompkins Square, and St. Marks Church.

But the price has reached a new high -- a whopping $6.99 per pound in Union Square today at McEnroe Organic Farm of Millerton, New York, which is just up the Hudson from the city. So we've decided to call a Gouge Alert, because they're not worth that much by a long shot.

If you must buy, pick one up first and smell the point where the stem joins the flesh. If it smells intensely of tomato, buy it. If it smells like nothing, move on, because there's a high correlation between how a tomato smells and how a tomato tastes.