jumping up, barking, and biting (all at the same time!)

My first step would be to keep him away from the source of his excitement.  I'd not allow him in the room when I am prepping his bowl.  That's the fast and dirty "fix" and I'm sure that the others will be along with some longer term solutions.

Have him sit before you even get the dinner stuff out. As soon as he breaks the sit, put it all back until he can maintain his sit. It'll be inconvenient for you and take a while, but it is really vital that he learn a little self-control when you've got something he wants. My dogs have to lay down and stay there as I prepare their meals. If they start to get up, I stop what I'm doing and ask for another down. If they still won't down, I put their food away completely. Your dog won't die if he misses a meal or gets it late, so don't be afraid to be a drill sargent here. The more consistent you can be in this training, the faster it will go. Teach him that the only thing that works to get food is to sit and stay. Jumping and nipping no longer works. Ever.

Obviously you can mitigate the situation by, as Glenda suggested, simply removing the dog from the area while you prepare his food.  Another option, the one I would opt for, is to solve the problem.
 
I am assuming your dog has had some basic obedience training and knows what "sit" means.  The problem, to me, seems to be that he does not know that he is expected to maintain the sit, until you release him.
 
I would enlist the help of someone else in the household with this one.  When you are ready to prepare his meal, put a leash and collar on the dog.  Have your helper command the dog to sit.  You go ahead and prepare the dog's meal.  If the dog breaks the sit, your helper can correct him and compel him to maintain the sit until you release him.
 
Now what follows is INTENDED as a good natured shot.
 
Your other option would be to do as some of the strictly positive trainers suggest and simply ignore any bad behavior.  You can then ask your question again in a couple of years.  []

*waving hands wildly*

I agree with houndlove. If the silliness started, everything gets put away. I'd actually mark the beginning of the silly stuff with "Uh oh!" or "Too bad!" and then start putting things away.

Your dog sounds like he feeds off attention - this often happens in friendly, well-adjusted dogs that are raised like veal []. I'd start working with him very intensively - give him lots of jobs to do which are incompatible with silly stuff - downing, bringing dinner dishes, moving his dinner mat, maybe even (advanced stages) fetching food cans or pushing the food bin over for you (if your dog is a standard).

I also agree with houndlove. When it comes to food, a food-loving dog tends to learn quickly that the only way to get it is to behave - as long as you are totally consistent. []

Just, uh, buy a new mop for all the drool that will accumulate on your floor as your dog sits or lays down and waits for their meal. Seriously, it's ridiculous. []

As for ignoring, I have definate rules for when ignoring is the best course of action, and it's not all the time. I will ignore if the bad behavior is specifically to get me to pay attention to the dog, in which case ignoring is a negative punishment. I will ignore if it becomes clear that the dog simply doesn't know what I'm asking AND there is no safety issue involved. Why go blue in the face telling a dog to do something (or not do something) that they have no idea what you're talking about? Just put that on your training to-do list and pick your battles. But I don't ignore if there's a safety issue, I don't ignore if the behavior isn't at all about my attention but about something else, and I won't ignore if I could accomplish a behavior modification by simply doing something slightly differently.

My dogs are so food-focused that when I first taught this I did use a voice cue to get their attention that yes, I am about to take your food dishes away (they'd be totally clueless that I had anything to do with it otherwise, so single-minded are they at feeding time). I just say "Ah ah!" They are marvelous with this training now. I can put them outside, fill their food dishes, place them on the floor, and the dogs will come in, look at their full food bowls and lay down next to them waiting to be released. They know full well that if they don't do that, they won't get their food until they do.

Houndlove has provided excellent advice.  I use very similar methods to what she suggested, and it works great for us, though we've never had any drooling. []
 
The boys know that they can't eat until I've released them to do so.  Cuma weighs 100lbs so as you can imagine, jumping and nipping as I prepare dinner would be unbearable.   In the beginning, they had to sit and stay as I placed their bowls in front of them.  When you first start training this with your Poodle, you won't want to ask for a long stay; set him up to succeed.  Maybe you could prepare his meal while he is in another room so he's not able to get overly excited, then ask for a brief sit before utting the bowl down in front of him.  My boys are in a "down-stay" while I prepare their food, then I'll ask for something else before actually feeding.  During this time, when I have a whole bowl of food in my hand to use as a reward, Cuma has finally mastered "stand"!  He is now going from the "down-stay" to a "stand", then from the stand gets released to eat his food.
 
When you say he jumps on the other dogs and nips them with you try to pet them, it sounds like he may be a bit pushy.  How long ago did you rescue him?  He may still be adjusting.

thanks for the great suggestions.  so i should have him sit while i am preparing the food, as well as just before serving it?  he will sit right before he is fed.  the problem is i have three other dogs who eat with him.  he is the only one that goes insane when the food comes out.  the others wait patiently for their food.  would i have to completely remove him and feed him separately if he can't control himself?  i am sure when he was abandoned in the barn with the fourteen other dogs, he had to fight for his food.  i think he was the smallest dog. 
 
i still need suggestions about jumping, biting and barking when i show attention to the other dogs.
 
thanks in advance.

he was rescued at the end of august.  he has come so far since then.  he is very gentle and loving, and gets along so well with the others! 
 
it is his biting of the others when i show them attention that i find most troubling.  

I live with six german shepherds.  A couple are food chows and would nudge someone away from their own food bowl and swipe it.  A couple could care less if it gets swiped.  Mine are all fed in their crates....that eliminates any possible problems and also reinforces that the crate is a wonderful place to be.

it's possible he really CAN'T control himself at the moment-- self control needs to be learned. You can do self-control drills around food away from the feeding area that may help-- practice "leave it" exercises, exercises to hold a stay while you put food down in front of him and he only gets it when released, things like that.
 

it is his biting of the others when i show them attention that i find most troubling.

 
Does he perform a reliable "sit"?  Blitz is pushy and will try to intervene when I am giving Cuma attention.  He doesn't get aggressive, but he will body check, mouth Cuma's ears, and try to instigate play.  Of course, as soon as Cuma gets up to play, Blitz takes his spot. [8|]  I don't allow this crap, and will ask him to "sit" or "down-stay" while I pet Cuma.  Then Blitz gets lots of praise and attention for being such a good boy and waiting his turn.  For us to get to this point it took a strong foundation in basic obedience.  Work with your Poodle alone at first until he is reliable with "sit" and "down" and "stay", then slowly add distractions i.e. your other dog(s).  My boy is ridiculously excitable so I can sympathize with you. 
 
I feel like I'm not much help, but luckily, there are some good books dealing with multiple dog households you can check out.  [] 

You've got some great ideas from more experienced owners than me but I will add what we did with our dog.  He too was a rescued stray at 3-4 mos old.  Big, very thin, food loving pup.  He would inhale his food at such a rate we had to slow him down for his safety.  We would make him wait in his crate until we said OK, then we would actually say, "take a break" and he would have to leave his food and go back in his crate until we said OK again.  When we moved his crate from the kitchen he stands where it used to be, and the other day for the first time in months I said' take a break' and he went back to his corner to wait until he was allowed to go back.  Shocked all of us that he remembered
It was easy to train because he wants his food so much he'll do ANYTHING to get it.  Obviously we don't have the issue of other dogs but it did seem really easy to control him at meal times[]