SSIS XMLSource only seeing null values in XML variable

Question

I have a Data Flow task with an XMLSource that references an XML Variable. The DataFlow task does recognize that there are x number of rows in the variable, but it only sees

Answer 1

I discovered a way to get the values to populate... I'll post it here without giving myself points, in case anyone else encounters the same problem. This is just a "how to fix", but I'll give credit to anyone who can explain the "deeper whys".

Essentially, the XML needed to be wrapped in another root node:

   
      bacon
      roasted
      pork
      edamame
   

Even though the original XML I used was valid, SSIS wanted it to be wrapped in an additional root node, which I named datarows. Once I did that the package recognized the word values and completed successfully.

The associated schema: