Its legalization became possible on February 19, 1981, when officials of the government of the People's Republic of Poland signed the so-called Rzeszów - Ustrzyki Dolne Agreement with striking farmers.

Previously, Communist government had refused farmers’ right to self-organize, which caused widespread strikes, with the biggest wave taking place in January 1981.

Since collective farming is a key component of communist notion of agriculture, in June 1948, the Polish United Workers' Party decided to begin the process.

In the late 1950s, number of collective farms fell to 1 800, and Poland was the only country of the Soviet Bloc which tolerated private ownership of the arable land.

Their objectives were: On September 24, 1980, representatives of Polish individual farmers submitted documents to the Warsaw Provincial Court for registration as Rural Solidarity.

However, after one month, at the end of October, the court ruled that private farmers were self-employed and as such, were not entitled to organize their own labor union.

[9] On November 30, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Andrzej Kacala met with a group of 30 representatives of farmers' unions founding committees from the Warsaw, Lublin, Siedlce, Skierniewice, and Wałbrzych Voivodeships, as well as from the Września–Konin, Golub-Dobrzyń–Kujawy, and the Holy Cross Mountains regions.

[10] Supported by Lech Wałęsa and the factory workers, the farmers organized on December 14, 1980, the founding congress of Rural Solidarity in Warsaw.

[13] Other centers of farmers protests were also located in southeastern Poland, in the towns of Ustrzyki Dolne and Nowy Sącz, but Solidarity members had been evicted from occupied buildings there.

The government, represented by Minister of Agriculture Andrzej Kacala, did not give permission to creation of a free trade union of the peasants, but legal protection of inheritance of land was confirmed.

[16] The Agreement was signed by Minister Kacala, who represented the Government, and Jozef Slisz, Jan Kulaj, Antoni Kopaczewski, Bogdan Lis and Lech Wałęsa.

Keeping agricultural land in perpetuity for future generations is critically important for the food security of the nation as well as for the health and welfare of its citizens.

Most of it has landed in the hands of foreigners – mainly Danes and Americans.”[30] Protesters blocked roads[31] with "Rallies and blockades [had] taken place in over 50 locations across the country involving thousands of small and family farmers," and government ministries were picketed.

[33] Protesters blocked the Agricultural Property Agency as well as set up encampments "outside the prime minister's palace and ha[d] vowed to remain until their demands [were] met.

The government is undermining Polish farmers and needs to resign!”[33] Food sovereignty was something also addressed at the movement, which would be more easily obtainable through access to land.

[35] The legalization of the direct sale, as well as the softened laws and regulations surrounding farm processed goods, would also affect food sovereignty.

"[35] In an interview in March 2016, Krzysztof Jurgiel, Poland's minister of agriculture, stated that “Land is a national good, and it should be in family farms, for the most part cultivated or managed by Poles and Polish farmers.

[38] However, a new issue arose due to EU "rules forbid[ding] national discrimination," and as such it forces "the new law to include tough restrictions on [all] land sales and ownership, which make it difficult for most Poles, as well as foreigners, to buy farmland.