Beauty may be only skin deep, but that's a good start for Julie and Mark Schuett. The Cherokee, Iowa, farmers and entrepreneurs process oilseed into food-grade flour and oil at American Natural Soy, Inc. (ANS). Soy lecithin, a by-product, goes into organic baked goods, baby formula, nonstick cooking products, chocolate, and confections.

It's also an integral ingredient in Origins Organics, a cosmetic and personal care product line by Estée Lauder.

Origins launched in 1990. But its new organic line was stalled by the search for a plant-based emulsifier.

Soy lecithin is an emulsifier; it binds oil and water. Estée Lauder discovered the company on the Internet and contacted the Schuetts and their partner at Clarkson Soy Products in Illinois. But purity requirements for cosmetics are stringent.

"At first we said we wouldn't be able to comply," says Julie Schuett, pictured above. "But Estée Lauder kept calling back, and they sent researchers to help us."

Four months later, new equipment was installed to resolve the issue, and Origins Organics launched in October 2007. Soy lecithin is used in its face lotion, body lotion, and body spritz.

ANS grew out of the Schuetts' efforts to process their soybeans. They purchased their first facility in nearby Hartley in 1990. Next they expanded in a former Cargill plant in Cherokee and a packing plant in Hartley.

The company launched in 2000 with six employees; today it employs 23. The organic lecithin partnership with Clarkson began in 2002.

ANS processes canola, sunflower, flax, and safflower oils. In 2004, Spectrum Organic Products of California became a flax partner. ANS recently doubled refining capacity and was named 2008 Renew Rural Entrepreneur by Iowa Farm Bureau.

Julie says the learning curve was steep; cosmetics wasn't Mark's strong suit. "We drove 100 miles to the nearest Estée Lauder," she says. "Our daughter, Nicole, kept asking Mark about it."

By 2008, sales of organic personal care products had jumped 19%. It's part of a larger trend of dishing up cosmetics and personal care products made with foods rich in antioxidants and vitamins.

Last summer, I was amazed when my daughter used fresh strawberries to make a facial. It wasn't unusual in Grandma's day. Beauty care relied on food to firm skin or to create shiny hair.

Oilseed processing remains ANS's core business. Organic soy lecithin for cosmetics is a niche. But it's a glowing example of how a new, nonfarm use boosts the value of an ag product and creates jobs in a rural community.

Homegrown entrepreneurs like the Schuetts, fueled by USDA Value-Added Producer Grants, are the rural economic engine. "Farmers have the resources," Julie says. "We just need added value for our crops."

Rural jobs are key to retaining college graduates. In a Pew Research Center survey of people who have lived in two or more places, nearly four in 10 said they don't live in their "heart home."

Rural America needs a face-lift. The Schuetts are creating more than the cosmetic illusion of youth. When their daughter, Nicole, graduates from Iowa State University in food science, she and her fiancé, Sam, will join the business.