Fresh Figs, Fair Prices, Good Fun : Shopping: Farmers’ markets in Burbank and Pacoima offer quaint atmosphere, fresh food and discount prices.

For most of us, weekend shopping rituals include the crush of carts and squealing toddlers at the supermarket check stand and the scanning of tabloid stories to discover just how that TV personality lost 50 pounds in three weeks.

But Willard Jacobson doesn’t want any part of supermarket shopping--at least where produce is concerned. Every Saturday morning he drives to a farmers’ market in Burbank, where he can walk around the produce stands at his own leisurely pace.

“You can’t get it any fresher than this,” said Jacobson, who lives in Glendale. “You get darn good buys, and there’s no waiting in line. You just hand the guy your buck and away you go.”

Until the next week.

On Saturday mornings at about two dozen Los Angeles County locations--including Burbank and Pacoima--customers flock to outdoor stands where they can buy freshly picked fruits and vegetables, freshly cut flowers and eggs and fish. And they can save 15% to 30% off supermarket prices.

Each market has a nonprofit sponsor that helps with promotion and organization in exchange for a small percentage of the gross sales.

Farmers at the Burbank market give 5% of their sales to St. Joseph Medical Center, which uses the money to pay the salary of the market manager and the cost of city and state business licenses, advertising and insurance. With any leftover money, the hospital purchases equipment.

The Southland Farmers Market Assn., a nonprofit organization that helps promote and organize 11 farmers’ markets in the Los Angeles area, sponsors the Pacoima market. Farmers give up 6% of their gross sales, 1 3/4% of which goes to the association. The rest covers the market’s operating costs.

John Rodriquez, manager of the Burbank site, said his market has 30 farmers, grosses about $13,000 each Saturday and draws 4,000 to 5,000 customers. The Pacoima market has 20 farmers, grosses about $3,500 and draws about 1,000 customers, said manager Margaret Takahashi. To sell at a market, farmers must have a certificate from the state Department of Agriculture verifying that the produce is home-grown in California. Rodriquez said the Burbank market doesn’t have room for more farmers right now, but Takahashi said the Pacoima market has enough space for a few more stands.

The markets attract a diverse group of growers from as far away as San Diego and Fresno and as close as Van Nuys. Some have farms of several hundred acres although others grow in their suburban back yards.

John Fanciullo and his wife, Shirley, sell figs from the 12 trees in their Van Nuys back yard. “This is just a hobby,” said John, a retired mechanic. “I had to start selling my figs because I had so many of them, and I couldn’t just throw them away. Besides, it makes me get out of bed. Otherwise I’d sleep late.”

Fanciullo, who sells his figs for 20 cents each, says he makes only about $25 a day. “We haven’t even bought a scale to weigh the figs--that’s how much money we’ve made.”

For others, the market is serious business. Joe Bonilla drives 180 miles from Selma, a town near Fresno, leaving at 1:30 a.m. every Saturday morning to get to Pacoima. He also sends a truck to the Burbank market.

Bonilla, a junior high school math and history teacher, grows fruits and vegetables on 40 acres. He comes to Southern California, he says, because central California has more than its share of farmers, and the markets in San Francisco are overflowing.

Bonilla said he doesn’t mind the long drive. “I like the people in Pacoima, and besides, I’m afraid of new things. You find something you’re comfortable with and you stay.”

Bonilla prefers to sell his produce at farmers’ markets because he can avoid middlemen and make more money. If he tried to sell to markets, he says, his produce would have to be graded and much would be thrown away.

At the farmers’ markets, he lets the customers grade their own produce. “Here people want small apples because they’ve got little kids.”

Some farmers say customers try to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere and bargain for the produce, but most won’t put up with it. “Sometimes they try to get you to come down on your price, but you try to deal honestly,” said Dave Wilmington, who sells oranges and lemons at the Burbank market.

The market managers say they see many of the same customers each week. “The die-hards come every Saturday,” said Takahashi.

Charlie and Ann Snowden of Granada Hills have been coming to the Pacoima market since it opened in 1981. After buying their produce, they go to breakfast at the Saugus Cafe in Newhall, a diner that has been open for 103 years.

“We’re nostalgia people,” said Ann, who, like her husband, is from Indiana. “It’s just a good feeling to be here with farm people.”

Ralph said: “It’s a throwback to Hoosierland. It’s kind of a hometown touch that’s missing” from supermarkets.

Ann said she sometimes gets carried away at the market and buys things she doesn’t need. “We’ve got all this stuff at home, like lemons and oranges, that we haven’t used. We just like to come here.”

So does Granada Hills resident Helen Seffinger, who comes to the Pacoima market every week.

“There’s something romantic about the idea that the farmers come from miles away,” she said. “There’s a relaxed, happy feeling here. It’s kind of a family feeling. And there’s no waiting in line at the check stand.”

The Pacoima market is open from 7 to 10 a.m. each Saturday at the Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot on Van Nuys Boulevard at Canterbury Street. The Burbank market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday at the corner of Palm Avenue and Glenoaks Boulevard.