Bear with me, this could be a little confusing.
Now, this is a cool trick I discovered a while back. It's pretty resource consuming, it can only be used in pretty specific lighting, but it looks pretty cool.
Here's a picture of the end result in a WIP Gundabad build I started ages ago:
Five second rule!
So, looking pretty cool, isn't it? This is how you do it.
How you do it
Alright, first choose where you want the food item to lie. We'll call that block 1.
Block 2 is directly adjacent to block 1, and you'll dig three blocks down from block 2. Place a torch at the bottom of the hole.
Mine out the block under block 1 and put a plate there.
Following me? No? Alright, here's how it should look.
Understand now? Excellent. It takes a little less than 64 food items to show through block 1. After that, cover up the hole. Make sure the light from the torch can illuminate the food, otherwise it appears black. Don't use it in dark builds, because the food will glow. Don't know a workaround for that, unfortunately.
Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have any tips for improving the trick, feel free to mention them.