He's not a professional chef, but Marc Dennis has hosted a string of surprisingly successful dinner parties, particularly considering what is on the menu. The increasing numbers of guests who gather in his Brooklyn loft have travelled, often long distances, to sample some of his signature dishes, from dry-roasted crickets and deep-fried worms to caramel-glazed, cricket-crunch-coated flan and salted cicadas. "Waxworms are by far the easiest to cook," Dennis says. "You just pop them in the pan, like you would with shrimp or lobster. Add a little bit of butter and garlic, and a minute later they are ready to go. Crickets, on the other hand, take a little bit more work."

Dennis is an entomophagist, otherwise known as someone who eats insects. He is also one of the leading voices in a campaign to get more people in the western world to eat bugs. While 1,400 insect species are eaten in 80% of nations, western populations have so far been reluctant. Yet Dennis believes it's vital that we start considering insects as an alternative source of protein, in order to reduce the emission of harmful gases produced in the raising of livestock. He's not alone: in 2008 the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations held a workshop in Thailand that highlighted insects as an environmentally friendly alternative source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

Which is why, two years ago, Dennis held his first "bug dinner" in Brooklyn and, a year later, launched his website, insectsarefood.com, an online resource for entomophagists, including a selection of insect recipes. Since 2008, Dennis, an artist, professor and amateur chef, has hosted seven dinners in his insect-themed pop-up restaurant. He doesn't charge for the meals – he just wants to spread the word – and says cricket stir-fry is his most popular dish.

Dennis, 45, grew up in Puerto Rico surrounded by lizards and cockroaches, which fed his fascination. These days, he sources his insects from pet shops and farms, as well as breeding some in plastic aquariums in the basement of his property, feeding them on a diet of oats and grains. "For the most part I get my crickets from cricket farms in New Jersey." When he goes to shops, he's often asked what he plans to do with 4,000 crickets. "When I say they are for human consumption, everyone stops and looks at me," he says.

"People view me as extreme, but if anybody studied the amount of methane gases being released into the air by traditional livestock alone, they would think, 'How do we reduce that?' Well, we start by incorporating into our diet different foods that offer us the same, or relatively close, amounts of protein, but no fat." In other words, insects.

"When farming insects, there's absolutely no labour-intensive working, or butchering of animals. There are no veterinarian bills, there's no need for tractors, which reduces fuel, there's no need for ripping up the soil... Also, there is no such thing as mad cricket disease, you know?"

He says the crickets are killed in a humane way. "I put them into a state of hypothermia by leaving them in the refrigerator for half an hour, so they go to sleep, and then putting them in the freezer for another half-hour." As for the waxworms, though: "I cook them live, so that they are fresh. They do wriggle a bit, until you put them into the pan."

In fact, Dennis says, most of us are already unwittingly eating insects every day. "There are a lot of bugs in our food supply that people are unaware of. It's impossible to prevent them getting into the mills or granaries. In any wheat flour, to every 50g, there are 75 insect fragments." But he is quick to admit that not all bugs are good for you. "I always tell people at my dinners, do not go into the corners of your apartment and scrounge up cockroaches to sprinkle on your cereal, or pick insects from your back garden." As with any other food, Dennis suggests getting your insects from a trusted source, so you know how the soil has been treated. "Avoid most brightly coloured insects, too," he adds. "Typically, the colour is a sign to predators to stay away because of a toxin in the body."

As well as high-end dinner parties, Dennis plans to branch out, making cricket flour for crackers and creating a new line in insect snacks. "One of my goals is to create protein bars: Hoppin' Good bars, with crickets, oats, grains and nuts – triple the protein with zero fat content."

Banana worm bread

banana worm bread Photograph: Liz Mcburney

75g shortening

130g sugar

2 bananas, mashed

300g flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

60g chopped nuts

2 eggs

50g dry-roasted mealworms

Mix together all the ingredients and bake in a greased loaf tin at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for about one hour.

Cricket fried rice

Serves four to six.

2 large eggs

1 tsp kosher salt

Powdered ginger, to taste

Powdered coriander, to taste

Garlic powder, to taste

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, or to taste

4 tbsp oil for stir-frying, or as needed

1kg cold cooked brown rice

180g roasted crickets (about 3–4 dozen)

150g chopped spring onions

1½ tbsp light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired

125g cooked corn kernels

Lightly beat the eggs with the salt, ginger, coriander, garlic powder and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add two tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add the egg mixture and cook, stirring, until lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and wipe clean the wok or frying pan.

Add two tablespoons of oil. Add the rice and stir-fry for a few minutes, using a wooden spoon to break it apart. Add the crickets and onions, and stir in soy or oyster sauce as desired. Continue stir-frying for a few more minutes. When the rice is heated through, return the egg to the pan, mix and stir in corn kernels. Serve hot.

Chocolate-dipped candied ginger crickets

banana worm bread Photograph: Liz Mcburney

Makes 20.

110g high-quality dark chocolate

20 pieces crystallised ginger

20 dry-roasted crickets

Line a plate with parchment paper. Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds at 50% power, remove, stir, and continue cooking at 50% power in 10-second increments, stirring after each burst, until the chocolate is melted.

Take a piece of ginger, hold a cricket alongside it and dip the bottom half in melted chocolate. Let the excess drip away. Place each chocolate-dipped ginger and cricket duo on the prepared plate and leave in the fridge until the chocolate sets.