Science

When people say "whole" they're referring to virtually any plant food that's in it's whole, ideally intact, form. For example in descending order:

1. Farro is a whole grain. It's a type of wheat, and it's whole because all parts of the grain are still there - the bran, germ, and endosperm. This is the ideal kind of grain to eat - whole and intact.
2. Whole wheat noodles are still a whole grain, but a bit less so because although all parts of the grain are still in it, it's been broken down and reconstituted into a new form. The structure of plant foods in and of itself has health impacts.
3. Whole wheat bread is still a whole grain, but quality can vary greatly depending on the ingredients and ways it gets processed. The vast majority of "whole wheat bread" is honestly dubious at best. Even more, since bread is less compressed than noodles, it digests more rapidly, and takes on properties that start to resemble refined grains more.
4. Refined grains. Think white rice, white bread. Low fiber, low phytonutrients. These foods digest rapidly, lack important nutrients, and have a high glycemic load (high blood sugar spikes).

Chickpea pasta would be comparable to number two on this list, so not bad. Store bought plant milks are not whole foods because the plant solids have been strained out. If you were to make a plant milk by, say, blending whole soy beans or almonds in water, that would be a whole food.